A Guardian's Lineage
by Zeraphime
Summary: Mirabel Szelsky thought that she had her life figured out, for as far as one can plan their life. She couldn't imagine that Alexei, a Dhampir student from St. Basil's could turn her life upside down enough to make her throw centuries of old-fashioned opinions aside. Alexei, in his turn, have a lineage of skilled guardians behind him. One that I think you all know very well...
1. Chapter 1

_Hello! This story have been sitting in my head (the first chapters) and some one paper for the past two years. I'm not the fastest writer, but I finally found a wonderful Beta who could correct my mistakes and I feel satisfied enough to start posting the story!_

_The main characters will be out of my own imagination, though the original characters will appear in the story. _

_I hope that you will enjoy this story of mine!_

* * *

**One**

**_12 years earlier_**  
**_December, a few days before Christmas_**

"Da, mama, i daĭ Alexei bolʹshoĭ potseluĭ ot menya", **(Yes mom, and give Alexei a big kiss from me) **

"Da, dorogaya, ya budu. Do svidaniya", **(Yes sweetheart, I will. Goodbye)**

"Do svidaniya", Nina pressed the call away. While talking to her mother, she had heard her son's talk and noises in the background as he played with some of his cars. She had only been away for three days, but she missed him as if she had been gone for three months.

"Nina! We are serving the dessert now!" Amy Badica appeared in the doorway to the guest room and knocked on the already open door. Nina nodded towards her friend and rose from the bed in the guest room. She was still full from the dinner and dessert did not appeal that much to her. But it was Amy's birthday, and Nina could take a small slice. She was thirstier for blood than cake anyway.

"I am coming", she smiled.

Amy Badica (Though married Drozov since about a year back) smiled widely back. She was a Moroi, born into one of the smaller royal families in America, the Badica's. She was just as tall and slim as every other Moroi; however, she was now a little curvier around the bust and bottom after the birth of her daughter two months ago. She had dark blonde hair, cut in a longer page that reached to her shoulders and dark blue eyes. All of the Badica's had that northern Europe emergence; the whole family was probably descended from northern Scandinavia or possibly Russia.

Nina herself was a non-royal Moroi from Russia, born and raised in Saint Petersburg where she lived in her mother's house along with her six year old son Alexei. Her pregnancy had been totally unplanned and she had given birth to him about six months after she had graduated, much to her mother's dismay. But even though she disapproved of her daughter having a child in such young age without a man, she had supported Nina during the whole process. Towards the end, she thought that her mother finally started to melt into the thought of having a grandchild; that was until she met him though. The father was a Dhampir that had been in one of her classes at school; and as know, Dhampir and Moroi relationships could end in a Dhampir child. Her mother was a strict woman; and in her opinion, Moroi women didn't birth Dhampir children.  
Nevertheless, Nina loved her little boy more than anything.

Amy vanished from the doorway and went to entertain her guests and take out the dessert. Nina followed her though the hallway and into the living room, where Amy's husband and brother still sat at the table, talking open hearted with each other as they each drank from a glass of wine. It was a poor gathering for Amy's 25th birthday, but apparently this had been a bad weekend for her relatives to drive all the way to Billings to celebrate her.  
Amy's nephews, two boys 9 and 7 years old, had already left the table and were playing loudly in the guest room.

Just as Nina sat down at the table Amy came out of the kitchen with a blue tray in her hands. On the tray stood a chocolate cake covered in cream along with some plates and spoons. It was a small cake, but Moroi couldn't consummate as much ordinary food as Dhampirs and humans could. Amy's brother whistled and clapped his hand at the sight of the cake.

With a wide smile on his lips, he rose from the table and held his glass up. "Let us sing for the birthday girl."

With blushing cheeks, Amy sat down while the other rose and started to sing. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear A- -"

They were interrupted in the song by the sound of crushed glass. Everyone grew quiet, waiting for further sounds. They all hoped that the boys had accidentally broken a window pane or that whatever they had heard was something they had imagined.  
Rather, they all hoped that it was nothing to worry about.

All the guardians in the house were suddenly on high alert. All three of them had their stakes out, ready to kill any possible threat, searching and listening for more sounds. But everything was quiet.

Amy shot her husband a frightened look turned her head towards the bedroom where their daughter had started to cry from the noise.

"Arthur, what's going on?" she asked worryingly. Guardian Schoenberg, a tall man in his late 40's, appeared in the entrance between the living room and the hallway, his silver stake ready in his hands and eyes searching the area.

"We don't know yet", he said. His legendary presence and dark voice calmed everyone down a bit, except for Amy, whose gaze was fixed on the direction of the nursery. Just as the glass to the patio door exploded she ran in direction towards her screaming daughter.

Nina screamed loud and covered her face with her hands, protecting it from the flying glass. The sharp pieces cut up small scratches on the top of her hands. She removed her hands just in time to see a tall and dark haired Strigoi entered the living room though the patio door. She had never seen a Strigoi before, and she was petrified by the apparition. She was used to the pale skin of the Moroi race, but this, his skin was chalky while shade as the skin of a corpse. Two eyes that once must have been warmly brown were lined with red, cutting of anything but a cold and listless look.

Nina was unable to say anything. This house was supposed to be safe; it was supposed to have wards to protect them. But now, a Strigoi stood in the living room.

And there was no guardians coming.

All of sudden, the sound of several more window panes being broken echoed in the house, along with the sound of broken wood. One Strigoi was bad enough, but now several Strigoi were suddenly entering the house. Two more came in from the patio door and at least two entered through the front door.

In the entrance to the hallway, Nina heard a gurgling sound and saw a body landed lump on the floor. Guardian Schoenberg's silver stake rolled a couple of feet on the ground before stopping. One of the boys, Daniel, who obviously was frightened by the situation but probably didn't realize the seriousness of it, came running into the living room to seek protection with his father.

For some reason, the two Strigoi in the hallway let him be. However, the female Strigoi in by the patio door didn't.  
She took two steps towards him, and he barely had a chance to slow down before she grabbed him by his hair. Daniel's father, Amy's brother, took a leap up from the chair to get to his son's aid.

Nina took a step forward in a foolish attempt to help, her own motherly instincts acting on autopilot. No one had the time to act before the female Strigoi twisted Daniel's neck out of place and tossed the lifeless body aside, landing next to the sofa.

When she heard the painful whimpering from Daniel's father, Nina felt as she if had been slapped in the face. Coldness and fear clasped around her stomach. At first, she had thought everything had been a horrible dream and she just woke up to face the reality, which was almost worse than the feeling that it was a dream. There was Strigoi in the house who was there to drain them all. No mercy.

Of course, Strigoi felt no mercy or compassion towards anyone. Not even each other.

The female, a woman with blonde hair, took a step towards Nina, who stumbled back a few steps. The Strigoi, who was a lot faster, grabbed her throat in a choke hold, exposing her fangs in a growl of satisfaction before burying her strong fingers into Nina's throat. She saw the red ring of death around the blue eyes burning with blood thirst.

Nina's thoughts immediately went to her little boy in Russia, her little Alexei, and she sent a quick thought to any higher gods that might exist that she left him with her mother. She wasn't scared for her own sake, she was scared for his. If she died today, he would be an orphan since his father was not in the picture. The thought of not being able to be in his life as he grew up hurt more in her heart than the female Strigoi's hard grip around her throat. As the tight grip pressed her blood vessels together, cutting off the blood flow to the brain, Nina's head started to spin and her field of vision started to crawl inwards. Right before she thought that she would faint, she realized that she would not survive this. The female enjoyed seeing all hope of surviving vanish from Nina's brown eyes.

She gripped even tighter, her nails cutting through the skin with a sharp pain. With one jerk, the Strigoi ripped her throat open.

Nina's life was over in within a second, her face turned blank and she fell onto her back in front of the TV. Like a dark halo, her dark hair spilled out over the floor while the blood pumped out from the open gash.

It would take two days before someone found the victims of the Badica Massacre.

* * *

_Let me know what you think of it and many thanks to my Beta-reader who sees every little mistake that I make! :)_

_Love, Zeraphime_


	2. Chapter 2

**Two **

_**Alexei Boyarov  
Present day – November**_

I could almost hear the crack before it connected. A few seconds too late I realized where my fist was heading and it connected with my combat partner's nose. He groaned loudly and backed up a few steps with a hand over his injured nose, a few red drops started to sip between his fingers and down on his grey training shirt. Those closest around us stopped in their fighting to watch the damage, but our trainer yelled at them to continue.

"I am sorry", I said. "Are you okay?" My combat partner groaned again, but nodded and gripped the bridge of his nose to make the bleeding stop. Our trainer, Guardian Bowden patted the boy's back.

"Go to the nurse and get that nose adjusted", he ordered and shot a glance at me. My combat partner hesitated for a moment, probably reluctant to leave training, but did as our instructor told him. Guardian Bowden eyed me.

"Good punch, but you know that we don't hit above the neck", he said stiffly.

"I know, Guardian Bowden. I miscalculated."

He eyed me again, nodding to my fist. "Is your wrist okay?"

I spread my fingers, knowing that the throbbing in my knuckles would soon pass. "It is fine." I had had worse injuries.

"Grab someone available", Guardian Bowden said and turned his back to me with a short nod. To take my earlier combat partner's place, another dhampir stepped in front of me. He was almost my height, but with a body a lot more muscular. The front and of his shirt was drenched in sweat and he had a half-healed bruise below his eye. A few wet drops from his perspiring hair dripped down his temples.

"I will try not to break your nose too", I tried to joke. However, I feared that I sounded too serious for him to understand that.

Luckily, he understood the joke and grinned. "I'll do the same."

* * *

An hour later, I left the novices' gym to shower before lunch. All my classes before lunch break were some sort of physical training, and I longed to step into the shower to wash away the sweat.

I opened the door to my room. It was smaller than what others had, but I did not have a roommate. Its only furniture was a bed and a small drawer apart from the door to the bathroom. I dropped my sweaty clothes on the bathroom floor before taking a step into the shower. The novice I had fought against after I broke the nose of the other had been a match. He had been good, giving me a few punches on my ribcage that I still felt and would probably feel tomorrow. He was one hell of a fighter.

I had been at St. Vladimir's Academy in America since school started in August. Earlier, I had been a pupil at St. Basil's Academy in Russia until I was offered to enrol in an exchange program over a year that would end with my graduation and final trails to be a guardian.

My father had been a guardian. He still was, but since I had never met him I usually thought of him as something no longer existing from my past. He and my mom had been in my age when she got pregnant after being together for a year, much unplanned of course. My father had always wanted to be a guardian, and my mother had not let my arrival stop that. Apparently, things had been clear between them that they would not stay together after graduation. I do not know if it had hurt him to leave mom while she was expecting me, but according to my grandmother, my mother had pushed on that he would become a guardian.

My mother was dead since many years back. She died in a tragedy known as "The Badica Massacre". I was perhaps five or six at the time when my mother visited a friend of the Badica family in America and a group of Strigoi attacked the house, killing everybody inside. Luckily, I had been with my grandmother at the time.

I turned the water off and grabbed a towel from the hanger next to the shower door. I quickly dried my torso and arms before wrapping it around my waist. I turned around and took a quick look in the bathroom mirror. I had plenty of small bruises on my arms and ribcage, but the rest of my lightly tanned torso was free from damage. I was tall, even for a Dhampir, at almost 6'3 in height. Combat training since I was seven years old had given me a lean and strong body with apparent muscles on my arms, chest, stomach and back.  
My parents had given me genes for a handsome and attractive face with high cheekbones, almond-shaped eyes and full lips, framed by black hair that curled down my neck. I could put it up in a small tail in the neck if I wanted. I stroke my chin with my index finger and my thumb, the stubble telling me that I hadn't shaved since yesterday morning.

After putting on some clothes, I went straight down to the dining hall for lunch.

* * *

I took my seat in the middle of the dining hall, with enough distance so I would not interfere with the other people at the long table. I held my head down my plate, eating concentrated, although my eyes repeatedly scanned the room. I shook my head as I caught myself doing it, again. It must be guardian blood, since I always found myself inspecting my environment for any kind of danger that could appear. I sighed quietly and almost rolled my eyes at myself; I act like a guardian before I have even graduated.

A light laugh stood out from the regular buzz that I usually organised as a background noise. I raised my gaze a little too find the source of the laugh. It was from the group of the popular Moroi, which consisted of mostly royal Moroi but also some non-royal. I had only been at St. Vladimir's for a year, transferred from St. Basil's in Russia, but now I had learned who was Royal and who was not.

The girl laughed again, and now I could distinguish who did it. I recognized her as a royal Moroi, although I did not know her name. She had her wavy, dark brown hair in a bun on the back of her head. She was just as tall and slender as all the other Moroi, but her face was rounder around the cheeks and her body held a few curves on the right places that any Moroi girl probably would sell their fangs to have.  
Just as I was going to lower my gaze, the Royal Moroi girl turned her head and looked right at me. We looked gazes for a moment; she gave me a small smile and turned her head a little to the side. I nodded in return. When she turned her head back to her group of friends, I returned to my food.

"Mr Boyarov?" I stopped to chew the full fork of pasta I had just put in mouth. One of my teacher's, Mrs Renard, a French Moroi, stood on the other side of the table. As usual, she had her strawberry blonde hair in a tight braid, keeping the hair from her pale face. She was perhaps close to 50, but she did not look more than 40.

I swallowed my food before I spoke. "Yes, Mrs Renard?"

"The Headmaster would like to see you", she said with that French accent she did not even bothered to hide.

"Can I finish my food before I go?" I asked. Mrs Renard opened her mouth, probably to protest, but she closed it again and nodded.

She looked un-amused and slightly annoyed while she had to stand and watch me finish her food, but she did not say anything. Just as I put the last the last piece of pasta in my mouth, her patience ended.

"Done?" She asked.

I shot her a glanced and nodded. "Yes."  
Mrs Renard walked ahead of me towards the headmaster's office. She was quick in her steps; I had to pick up my own pace to keep up with her. She knocked on the door twice before the Headmaster on the other side told us to enter. Mrs Renard opened the door and made a gesture towards me to go inside; she did not follow me, but closed the door behind me.

"Headmaster Alto", I greeted.

The Headmaster gave me a light smile. He was in his early 40's, very young for a headmaster. However, his black hair had already grown a few grey streaks and he had visible lines around her mouth and eyes. I had heard that he had been a douche bag when he was simply a teacher here, but as a headmaster he gave a strong impression of a firm hand and seemed to do a good job as the leader of the school. Perhaps in future he would be told to have ruled this school just as well as his predecessor, Kirova.

"I apologize if I interrupted your lunch, Mr. Boyarov?" He asked.

I shook my head. "I managed to finish it."

"I'm going to go straight to the point, if you do not mind?"

I shook my head again. "Not at all."

Headmaster Alto adjusted his position in the chair and moved a pencil an inch to the left before he spoke. "I've heard about your skills in combat, your combat teachers have been telling me what a potential you have to be a very good a guardian." I got the feeling that he did not give praises easily, but I nodded in thanks for the commendation.

"I did not know they thought so highly of me", I said.

The headmaster eyed me. "Surely you are aware of your skills?"

I swallowed. I knew that I had skills, but I hated to tell other people that. "I have heard that I am good." I finally admitted. I hated to brag. One should never overestimate oneself, for that is dangerous both social and in combat. Dangerous for me that would mean, not for my opponent.

"More than good, from what I have heard. And it's because of your skills I have called you here", Headmaster Alto grew more serious. "As the society is built, the Royal family is the ones who have to be protected first. The other Royal Moroi families are next in lines for guardians and, unfortunately, the less important Moroi families will have to make it on their own." Headmaster Alto continued. "And, sadly, guardians age just like the rest of us and starts lacking in skills, it is for the best that they are replaced by someone younger and stronger."

"A newly graduated can never be compared to an experienced guardian" I interrupted.

Headmaster Alto agreed with a nod. "You are absolutely right. An experienced guardian could be worth three fresh guardians. However, a young guardian can surpass their contemporary guardians with some tutoring from a skilled guardian."

I waited for him to get to the point. Who was the guardian he wanted me to replace? When he spoke again, he must have read my thoughts in my face.

"After your graduation, you've been asked to be the new guardian to Lucas Dragomir."

My eyes actually widened in surprise. Lucas Dragomir was the oldest son (though the second child) to Queen Vasilisa and her husband Christian, who had the title of King Consort since he was not the main ruler. I had figured out by now it would be something important he brought me in here to tell. However, I had not expected it would be a proposal to be a future guardian to the Queen's son.

"I am not ready for that kind of responsibility," I swallowed.

Headmaster Alto eyed me. "Your teachers are of a different opinion. That is why they recommended you for this task."

"So may be. However, putting the prince as my first assignment after graduation seems risky for his safety", I countered.

"Two of the royal guardians have agreed to tutor you until they think you are ready. However, now when I have given you the proposal, you can consider it until you graduate. But honestly, Mr Boyarov, you would be a fool if refusing the offer."

I nodded, grateful that he had been completely honest with his own thoughts and appraisal. "Thank you, Headmaster Alto."

* * *

_I hope that you enjoyed it! _

_Love, Zeraphime_


	3. Chapter 3

**Three **

_**Mirabel Szelsky**_

After finishing our lunch, I went with my group of girls back to our dorm to get our things for class. It was 20 minutes until the class started; I had more time than usual before the class after lunch. I usually spent my time with a friend named Vanessa Badica, whom I had been with since we started our freshman year here at the academy. However, this week her parents had brought her to Paris for a rare family trip, and I couldn't wait until she returned. This group of girls was more her friends than mine, but they were okay company for most of the time. All of the girls were from royal families; one or two were distant relatives to myself, and saw themselves as an "elite group" at the school. When they didn't comment on how other dressed or from what family there were from, they were actually quite nice to hang out with.

Joanna Szelsky, whom I was related to as cousin three times removed or something, was the one I hanged with the most when Vanessa was not around and the one currently digging her way to the back of my closet.

"Seriously, Bel, don't you have anything that is not from last year?" She exclaimed as she pulled out garment after garment from the racks.

"I do, but you have already passed them", I said without taking my eyes from the pages of the gossip magazine. I was not really interested in how many pounds that celebrity had gained or how much that celebrity had been drinking, but I was out of books and other magazines to read.

Joanna hummed from my closet and continued to look. She had her light brown, shoulder length hair in a messy bun in the back of the head and was only dressed in small shorts and a tank top. She started to whistle quietly as her eyes searched through my clothes. After a couple of minutes, she gave up a contented sound and pulled something out from the closet. "This is the one!"

I looked up; facing a strapless, mid-long blue evening dress I bought for my birthday last year. However, I couldn't figure out why Joanna had pulled it out. "The one for what?"

Joanna put the dress beside me on the bed. "For Rebecca's party tonight, she's having a... sort of "underground party". It will be mostly royals, of course. We are invited and we are going!"

"Why? So you can get laid for once?" I grinned.

Joanna shot me a glare and stuck out the tip of her tongue. "If someone needs to get laid it's you!"

I shot out with my hands. "I got laid at the last party!"

Joanna rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, with Michael Zeklos, I know that. Actually, no one missed that."

I shivered, not having any pleasant memories from that night. Michael Zeklos was attractive, but a party-guy of large amounts and enjoyed bragging about his girls and money. After four shots of tequila and almost three bottles of alcoholic cider, locking up in a room with him seemed like a good idea. Unfortunately, his drunken state made it rather hard for him to make it a memorable night for me. Considering that he fell asleep three seconds after he was done and wasn't in class the day after, I doubted that he remembered his mediocre achievement.

"I see that you don't have very good memories from that night, and that's why you need a better lover tonight!"

I shrugged my shoulders, not sure if I wanted to get naked with someone tonight. Joanna thought for a while.

"Lucas Badica is pretty hot", she suggested and started looking around in my closet again. I thought for a while. He was not ugly, but no one I found very attractive.

I shook my head. "He is not my type."

Joanna stopped searching through my closet and closed the door. "Well, we'll find one your type at the party. Since it will be mostly royals, it's going to be exclusive!"

I surrendered. "What time?" I asked.

"I'll come by at 5 and help you do your hair", she said and tossed her own hair over her shoulder.

* * *

Joanna and I started to walk to our class, which was on the opposite side of campus from our dorm. We were a little short on time, but she judged that she had time to visit the feeders first. I usually didn't bother about being a few minutes too late, but our teacher had threatened to lower our grade if we had any more late arrivals. It was not really worth it.

As we passed the door to the headmaster's office, the wooden door opened sharply. It hit the right side of my arm, probably creating a bruise on my bicep. I grimaced at the impact and stumbled to the side, dropping my books on the floor. I cursed lightly and sat down on my knees to gather them together. The stone floor felt uncomfortably cold through my thin stockings.

"Hey, watch your step!" Joanna lectured the one who had opened the door, who sat down to help me gather my books.

"I apologize", said a dark voice and someone sat down on my other side, helping me as well. "I did not think that someone would be on the other side of the door." The voice was pronounces with a thick Russian accent that emphasized the 'R's.

"It's okay, I was- -" I started and looked up. A pair of dark brown eyes met mine. It was a Dhampir guy with lightly tanned skin and dark stubble around his chin that was about a day old and went around his full lips. His black hair was pulled up in a short tail in his neck but a few streaks hung down to his cheek. I instantly recognized him; it was the same guy I had nodded to in the food court. I had thought that he looked good on that distance; but seeing him up close, he was strikingly attractive. That face could easily have been on the front page of a magazine.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

I nodded several times, suddenly unsure how to keep my voice steady. "Oh yes, I am fine. And you?"

His face softened and he gave me a light smile. It made him look even better. "I am good." He handed me my pencil, eraser and notebook. When I received them, his fingers gently brushed mine and a shiver spread from my fingers down to my stomach.

I smiled at him. "Thank you." I rose from my sitting position.

"Again, I apologize", the Dhampir guy said.

I shook my head. "No harm done, thank you for helping me", I said.

He nodded and took a step backwards. "It was the least I can do."

Joanna, who had kept her mouth quiet during the brief conversation, followed the guy with her gaze as he walked down the stone corridor and walked out through the main door. I also watched him walk away, admiring his height and muscular built.

As soon as he had vanished out the door, I exhaled and spoke with lowered voice to Joanna. "Did you see him?"

Joanna's voice was matter-of-factly when she answered. "Yes I did, I was right beside you."

"I saw him in the food court today, but I have never seen him in school before", I said and turned to Joanna. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I have, he transferred here less than a year ago. I haven't seen him hold a conversation with anyone and I didn't even know that he spoke English."

I raised my eyebrows in slight surprise. "Have you been watching him?"

Joanna laughed. "Me? No, no, no! I have heard everything from Vanessa; she thinks that he is hot."

"He wasn't unattractive", I admitted hesitantly. Joanna waved with her hand in front of my face.

"Don't go there, you shouldn't go for a Dhampir, you are too royal to even have a fling with a Dhampir", she said.

Now it was my turn to laugh spontaneously. "A fling? Christ, Joanna, I don't even know the guy!"

"Good! Besides, I have heard that he is a loner. Like, an antisocial guy who's out running all night, he's nothing for you."

"Where do you get all this from?" I laughed.

"I just told you! From Vanessa, she's practically stalking him! Come on now, I need to see the feeders before class!"

_Running all night, huh... _

* * *

_**Alexei Boyarov**_

The chilly November air bit the bare skin on my arm and neck. I was up at 14 laps around the running track, only one more to go before I was done. My muscles were warm and my legs almost burning after all the laps I had run so far. I inhaled through my nose, exhaled through my mouth. I watched the stars on the dark blue sky as I ran, contented that I was running in cold weather and not under a burning sun. When I passed the side of the track that was towards east, the massive building of St. Vladimir's Academy towered up and cast a tall shadow over the track.  
Most of the other novices preferred running inside at this time of the year, but I ran outside no matter what the season was.

Up until now, I had been the only one in sight at the running track, but now I noticed another figure in the rounded corner that was closest to the academy building. He or she stood completely still, just by my things I had dropped on the snowy ground.  
I finished my last lap and went to get my things.

The person by the track was a girl, probably my age. At a distance, I had thought she was another runner waiting for me to finish running so that she could run her laps. When I came closer, I saw that it was the Moroi girl I had bumped into after my visit with the Headmaster and whom I had nodded to in the food court. She was definitely not dressed for running; she was dressed in an expensive, blue dress ending just below her butt, a pair of high heels and white, thin leggings covering her long, already pale, legs.

"Isn't it cold?" she asked. I lifted my head and looked up at her, shrugging my shoulders, thinking that she would be even colder in that strapless dress and almost bare legs.

"A good excuse to keep running", I said, lifting my head to look at her face. She was carefully make-upped, with dark eye shadow on her eyelids, defining a pair of light brown eyes framed by long, black eyelashes. Her dark brown hair was arranged in an elegant knot in the back of her head with hairpins holding any loose ends away.

The corners of her glossy, pale pink lips twisted up in a smile. "True."

"Why are you out here?" I asked. The cold air was more noticeable now, started to give me goose bumps on my upper arms.

"I'm heading over to a party", she explained.

I nodded towards her dress. "That explains the dress." She nodded and her gaze slipped to the side, her hands rubbing her naked upper arms.

"You are royal, right?" I asked. The Moroi girl turned her head towards me again and nodded.

"Yes. Szelsky", she said. It was not a named I instantly recognized any members of, but I knew that it was a royal name.

"What more than Szelsky?" I asked. I was interested in knowing what her name was, wondering if it was as elegant and fair as her appearance.

Very professionally, she took a step forward and held out her hand. "Mirabel"

I took her hand and shook it. "Alexei Boyarov", I introduced myself.

"Are you from Russia?" Mirabel asked, even though I saw that it was already obvious to her.

I gave her a small smile and asked, rather ironically. "How could you tell?"

"Your accent", Mirabel responded with a smile, exposing a white line of smooth teeth. "And by your name"

"The accent is not easy to get rid of", I admitted.

Mirabel smiled again and nodded. I thought of something to answer, but anything that came to my head seemed forced and fake.

"I should go up and shower", I finally said, shivering slightly as a cold breeze of air swept over my skin. I got colder by the second and the sweat had started to dry in on my back and legs. "Have fun at the party."

"Thanks", Mirabel said as I passed her and headed up towards my dorm.

* * *

Standing in the shower in my room after the run, I was unable to get the images of Mirabel Szelsky out of my head. I had thought that she was pretty when I saw her in the food court; seeing her up close, she had been very appealing; seeing her in that dress and hairdo, she had been stunning.

Closing my eyes, I replayed our meeting in my head. The thought of the dark blue fabric hugging her waist, her long legs that seemed infinitive in those heels and the cleavage impressive for a Moroi made me excited - in a particular way.  
Her slightly awkwardness and blushing when I helped her with the books I knocked over had been adorable and I would have liked to talked more to her if her friend had not pulled her away from there.

When I came here, I had said to myself that making friends would not be a priority. Also, I had seen how the juniors and seniors acted here, and they were not really my type of company. I had also been partying, drinking and making-out at the academy in Russia, but I had a feeling that it would not be the same without my old friends.  
However, I really wanted to get to know Mirabel better. Something about her that I could not quite put my finger on intrigued me I was interesting in finding out what it was.

* * *

_Have a good weekend everyone!_

_Love, Zeraphime_


	4. Chapter 4

**Four **

_**Alexei Boyarov**_

My day started with a few hours of combat training with other senior novices under the surveillance of Guardian Rodriguez, a tall Dhampir guardian from Argentina. She was tanned and fit, with dark brown eyes seeing everything that happened in the room.  
The guy whose nose I cracked was back, although his nose was still patched together, swollen and flecked with small bruises in different colours. He had seemed to be avoiding me at all cost; something I could not blame him for.  
But to our luck, we were paired to each other at the end of the class.

"Hit my nose again and I will break your jaw", he grinned. His tone was light, but I sensed seriousness in his words. I hadn't thought that I would be regarded with friendliness after breaking his nose.

"I will try not to, I am very fond of my jaw", I replied.

I managed to avoid his nose, although I gave him a couple of uncomfortable hits in his stomach and on his ribs. After every blow, he looked more and more pissed.  
Attempting an uppercut in his stomach, he jumped aside, grabbing a hold of my wrist. He quickly twisted it to the side, turning my arm and elbow in an uncomfortable position. Something gleamed in his eyes, his lips pressed together and he let his closed fist fall against my wrist.

The force of the blow and the bent angle on my wrist was not a good combination and, with a loud crack, I heard my wrist snap. I groaned and bit my lip as the pain spread out to my fingertips and up to my shoulder. I glanced up at my opponent; he did not look the least remorseful.

Within a couple of seconds, Guardian Rodriguez was by us. "What happened here?"

My opponent shrugged his shoulders and I clutched my wrist. "I injured my wrist."

"Can you continue?"

I tried moving my wrist, but it only sent another wave of liquid pain up my arm. I shook my head. "No."

"Go to the doctor, let her take care of that", Guardian Rodriguez said and sent my opponent away to fight another student. I noticed his content smile as he looked at me over his shoulder.

"Cyka..." **(Bitch/Whore)** I mumbled quietly to my previous opponent and stepped off the training area. I grabbed my water bottle and headed towards the infirmary with my arm pressed against my torso. The pain was nothing more than a throbbing by now - as long as I kept it still.  
Doctor Olendzki, a woman in her late 40s or early 50s, made a quick examination and told me that it was, fortunately, not broken, but quite seriously sprained. To keep it in place to heal properly, she tightly fastened a wrist-supporter around it. The fastening was worse that than actual spraining, I had to bite my lip from not letting a stream of ugly words exit my mouth.

Afterwards, I went in the direction to the dorm. Tonight was going to be an uneventful night. I usually exercised in the evenings, but push-ups and hitting was out of the question for a couple of weeks.  
I was thinking about whether I should break my record in sit-ups or running when I spotted Mirabel outside the cafeteria. She had her face down her cell phone, probably writing a text, but looked up before I passed.

She gave me a wide smile. "Hi, Alexei!"

Her enthusiastic greeting made smile as well. "Hello, Mirabel."

Her eyes fell down to the wrist-securer I wore around my wrist. "What happened?"

"Someone tried to break it", I replied bitterly.

"I hope that you broke something of his in return", the corners of Mirabel's lips twisted into a smile. Even though I was mad for almost having my wrist broken, her smile made me relax.

"I did", I smiled. "Although it was a couple of days ago."

"Way to go", she said and tossed her phone into her bag. "Would you mind following me down to the feeders? I'd appreciate the company."

I was a little taken-aback by her request. Not that I would mind following her down, I just wasn't prepared for the question. "No, I would not mind."

Her smile widened and she flung her bag over her shoulder. "Thanks!"

* * *

Our way towards the feeder's room was silent, all that we could hear was the sound of our shoes against the stone floor. We only met two other people, both Moroi, that seemed to be heading back from the feeders.

"May I ask you a question?" I asked carefully. I wasn't usually shy to ask people questions, I didn't think that wanting to know things was embarrassing. However, wanting to know personal questions was always embarrassing.

"Of course", Mirabel nodded.

"It is a stupid question."

She chuckled. "I don't mind."

"Do you have a blood-type preference?" I asked.

She looked at me for a few silent seconds before bursting out in a laugh. To my surprise, I found myself rather compelled by her laugh. It was clear and light, sounded as if she did it completely without effort. I felt a desire to make her laugh again, just to hear that sound again.

"Wow, I have never gotten that question before!" She laughed, though her laugh seemed to be sincere and not ironical, and took a few seconds to consider her answer. "Now when I think about it, people with the blood type A-positive is a little sweeter than the rest. Why are you asking?"

She turned to me, smiling wide, and looked up at me below her eyelashes. Meeting her gaze, I noticed that she had an eye colour that resembled melted caramel. It knocked me off the topic for a moment, wondering how genetics could create such a rich and soft colour, but I recovered quickly.

"I have been curious if there is a difference", I admitted. "And I have never gotten the right opportunity to ask someone about it."

"You might as well have asked what kind of pizza I like the best", she chuckled.

I felt my cheeks heat up. I had asked a stupid question.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you!" she apologized and casually let her hand stoke my upper arm for a brief second. "Asking questions is how you get answers."

"Even when it is stupid questions like food preferences?"

She put her hand on the handle to the feeder's room, but stopped and looked at me for a second. Her face softened into another smile. "Even stupid questions like food preferences."

She opened the door to the feeder's room and headed straight for the reception where she registered her visit. I took a seat in one of the sofas in the waiting room and carefully placed my sprained hand on my stomach.  
As Mirabel vanished behind a screen, I picked out a worn pocket-book from the outside pocket of my training bag. The cover had faded a little and I had accidentally spilled coffee on it a few months ago. The almost every other page had marks of earlier folded corners and there was even some lose pages in the back of the book.

I believed that I read that book over and over again of sentimental reasons. _The Green Mile by Stephen King, _had been my mother's favourite book. When I inherited it, the book was already worn and read several times.

And after I read it for the first time, I really understood why she loved it.

Mirabel returned fifteen minutes later, discreetly wiping some blood from the corner of her lips with a white napkin.

"Did you enjoy your meal?" I asked, grinning lightly.

She grinned back. "Afraid not, she had blood-type O which I found far too bland for my taste."

"Is the difference that big?"

She shook her head. "No, they taste almost the same", she smiled. "However, I stand my ground. A-positive is a _little_ sweeter than the rest."

"Aren't you going to tell me your favourite pizza-topping as well?" I asked, remembering how she commented on that I might as well have asked for her favourite pizza when asking for her blood preferences.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Pineapple."

We exited the feeding cafeteria and walked towards the dorms, or at least so far we could walk until we needed to part ways. We walked in silence this time as well, for she didn't say anything and I couldn't figure out a clever and casual thing to ask.

What did I want to know about her?

_Everything. _

But I couldn't ask her to tell me everything about her life, I had to start somewhere.

"Ehm…" I began, far too soon since I hadn't yet figured out a decent question. "Where did you grow up?"

"About half an hour away from Court", Mirabel answered. "With a car, that is."

"And you grew up with your family?"

Mirabel nodded. "With my parents and a younger brother, he goes to school here while mom and dad are both working at Court. What about you?"

"I grew up on the academy, my mother died when I was young."

"I'm sorry to hear that", she said sincerely. "Do you have any siblings?"

I shook my head. "None that I know of, at least."

Mirabel hesitated a little before she asked the next questions. "And what about your father? Did you know him?"

I shook my head again. "No, most Dhampir's doesn't."

"Did... did he visit a lot when you were younger?" She twisted a little on the spot, not daring to look me in the eyes. I didn't even get mad that she assumed that my family was like the families of most Dhampirs; a Dhampir mother and an absent Moroi father. I hated to say and think that it was the way of our society, but I couldn't very well deny it.

"My mother was a Moroi and my father was a Dhampir. They dated in high school", I explained.

Mirabel's pale cheeks blushed bright pink. "Oh… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to jump to conclusions like that", she said, lowering her head in an attempt to hide that she was ashamed.

"You do not need to apologize", I assured her.

"I have never met a Dhampir with a Moroi mother and a Dhampir father", she confessed. "You don't hear that a lot."

"Does that make me special?" I asked with a smile.

Mirabel returned it with an even brighter smile. "Perhaps."

We reached the end of the long corridor that divided into two, one leading up to the girls' dorm and the other leading up to the boys' room. I could have spent a while more walking around with her, she seemed very relaxed, friendly and she had been good company for the short time it took to follow her to the feeders and back. She didn't seem at stuck-up as her friends.

"Well, this is me", Mirabel said and nodded towards the corridor to the girls' dorm. "Thank you for the company."

"It was my pleasure", I smiled.

A little awkwardly, she reached up on her toes and gave me a hug, careful not to hurt my already injured hand.

"I'll see you around", she said before walking down towards the dorm door.

* * *

_I hope that you had a good weekend!_

_Love, Zeraphime_


	5. Chapter 5

**Five **

_**Alexei Boyarov**_  
_**December**_

The whole academy transformed at the prospect of Christmas. Not only was the old-fashioned building decorated with Christmas decorations, hollies and one or two occasional mistletoes in a corner or under a stone arch in the garden, but the student' mood lightened up the closer to vacation it got and also the teachers seemed to relax a little.

My combat teacher however, Guardian Rodriguez, had another idea in mind. She pushed us all the way into Christmas holiday with tough physical training and a demand that we don't relax too much during our holiday. Before the last class was even finished, a junior discreetly sneaked in and tapped Guardian Rodriguez on her shoulder. After quietly talking to her for a few seconds, my teacher called me over and told me that the headmaster wanted to see me.

Sweaty and slightly limping after a failed-aimed kick against a guy's thigh, I headed towards the headmaster's office with my bag over my shoulder. The corridors were empty and through the glass windows I saw a white landscape which now was thickening by more falling snow. Headmaster Alto had also decorated his office in a Christmas theme with red curtains and a small Christmas tree in the corner behind his desk. The door to the office was open and I could see him signing a stack of papers, but I still knocked.

"Come in, Mr Boyarov."

Before I stepped in, I did a quick and discreet check of my odour. Fair enough, I could not do anything about it now except for apologize for not being fresher.

"Headmaster Alto, I am sorry for showing up in this condition, but - -"

Headmaster Alto shook his head and put the papers away, leaning back in his chair. "No need to apologize, it is I who should apologize for pulling you from your training."

"Not a problem."

"Have you been thinking about the offer?"

I nodded. "I have, and if my teachers think that I will be ready for such a task then I shall try not to disappoint them."

"It is not them you need to impress and try not to disappoint. I told you that two very skilled guardians will test your competence before any decisions are made; it is them you are going to make an impact on."

"Then I will try my best not to disappoint them", I said.

Headmaster Alto looked up at me and actually gave me a light smile. "Honestly, Mr Boyarov, I think that your will do great. Your way of thinking and your devotion to the guardian career reminds me of what I see in the students with potential of becoming magnificent guardians when they graduate. And of what I have both heard and seen; those students are now the elite of the American guardians."

"Thank you."

"So, shall I get in contact with Guardian Hathaway and Guardian Belikov to tell them that you will be their novice?"

I nodded. "Again, thank you for giving me the opportunity."

I kept my face neutral, though I was practically jumping on the inside. Every novice's dream was to get a good assignment after graduation; the more important Moroi you guarded, the more it felt like you did an essential job. Becoming the guardian to the Queen's son… that was a great honour.

"You have done most of the work yourself." Headmaster Alto said before returning to his papers. I took that as my cue to leave.

* * *

_**Mirabel Szelsky**_

With a steady hand I finished the thin line above my left eye's eyelashes with liquid eyeliner. Me, Vanessa Badica and my distant relative Joanna stood in Vanessa's room to make ourselves ready for tonight's celebration. Tonight, on Christmas Eve, the school had arranged a fine dinner in the food court for the students who did not go home for the holiday. Neither I, Joanna and Vanessa were going home, simply because we'd rather wanted to party with our friends instead of eating ham with our stiff family members. I also, which I refused to admit to anyone, hoped to run into Alexei once or twice this Christmas.

"Bel, do you want to borrow this for tonight? It would look awesome on you", Vanessa turned from the closet and held up a red dress in front of her. I turned from the mirror; it was strapless evening dress that probably would reach my knees. Since I had simply grabbed something out of my own closet and already regretted my choice, I nodded.

"Sure, thanks", I said and turned back to the mirror to continue my carefully applied make-up. I had managed to get the exact amount of mascara on the brush which wouldn't leave lumps in my lashes and would throw something out the window if I messed up the eyeliner. I was not in the mood to re-do it.

"Do you think I can wear this one?" Vanessa pulled out another dress from her giant closet. I managed to only raise my eyebrows without saying something mean to her. The dress was barely even a dress, more a shirt. It was long enough to cover the area from her nipples to perhaps the middle of her butt. It was black and the top part was covered in gold glitter.

"Is that even a dress?" I asked.

Vanessa thought of my comment as a joke and laughed it away. "I usually don't wear clothes like this, but... tonight I want someone special to notice me." She bit her lip and put the dress on a chair to await second decision later.

"Who's the lucky guy?" I asked and gathered my entire load of make-up back into my bag. Joanna was curling her light brown hair in front of Vanessa's full-body mirror and was already dressed in a long, champagne coloured dress and was elegantly make upped. She had a slim belt around her waist that emphasised her Moroi slimness and the colour made her skin look rather washed out. She and Vanessa exchanged gazes and Joanna started to giggle.

"Not just any guy", Joanna teased. "A Dhampir!"

I froze, instantly remembering Joanna's words about Alexei a few weeks ago when I asked how she knew so much about him. _"I just told you! From Vanessa, she's practically stalking him!"_

Vanessa started laughing. "He is so hot! I'm really hoping to "get lucky" this Christmas." She winked at Joanne and they started laughing. Rather reluctant, I smiled lightly.

"Who is it? I don't think I know who it is", I asked. _Please don't say that it's Alexei..._

Vanessa picked up the skimpy dress again and held it up before her. "He's hot, quiet, foreign and incredible sexy", she said the last thing dreamily and turned to the side in the mirror. She tossed her blonde her over her shoulder and winked at her own reflection. Vanessa was prettier than anyone gave her credit for; honey blonde hair with golden streaks and big grey eyes. She was about an inch taller than me and also about an inch slimmer. Moroi were slim, almost like models; however, Vanessa was slim even for a Moroi.

"Is his name Alexei?" I asked, unable to wait for her to reveal his name.

Vanessa turned her head to me with a surprised look on her face. "You do know who he is!"

I shrugged my shoulders, pretending to be uninterested about the hot, sexy, foreign dhampir. "I have seen him around."

Vanessa started to dig in her closet and pulled out a small, black purse with a thin chain for a strap. "I have been checking him out for weeks now and I am sure that he has noticed me as well", she said proudly and started to change out of her pants and shirt. "Jo, you remember the appreciating nod he gave me when we passed him in the hallway the other day?"

Joanna nodded and turned the iron off. "Are you going to catch him alone tonight?"

"Hell yes! I am planning on bringing him back here after the dinner, so I am cleaning before I leave", Vanessa started to climb into the mini-dress she picked out. She pulled it up over her bra and pulled it down a little at the lower edge. Surprisingly, it covered her breasts almost completely and reached a little less than mid-thigh, it was not as skimpy as I first thought. She ruffled her hair a little and stepped away a little from the mirror to examine her figure. She gave herself a contented smile. I felt a slight pang of jealously; a nice pair of high heels to lift her long legs and a discreet make-up would make her irresistible to any guy.

_How could Alexei not notice her? How could he resist her? _

But I was also jealous and suspicious over that Vanessa seemed very confident about her chances with Alexei. Had I missed something between them or did she simply see every sign from him as a sign of interest? I wouldn't go as far as to say that he seemed interested in me, but he hadn't been unfriendly towards me. He'd seem interested in learning more about me, but was that a sign that he was hitting on _me?_

Well, I was not going to get any answers from Alexei now and I did not want to start a discussion about him with Vanessa, so I grabbed the red dress from the bed and started to change my clothes. The dress must have been a little large on Vanessa, because it fit me perfectly.

"You should keep it, it fits your perfectly", Vanessa said and helped me pull up the zipper in the back. She walked over to her regular purse and started to look through it.

"You wouldn't just give your dress away", I said and looked at myself in the mirror. It was slightly, slightly tight, but it hugged my body in an amazing way.

Vanessa shrugged her shoulders and threw a couple of condoms down in her little black purse. "I have more and it's too big for me."

I tried to ignore what I saw her put in her purse, I did not want to think about her and Alexei in bed. "Thank you, sweetheart", I said and gave her a smile.

* * *

We arrived to the food court about 10 minutes to six in the morning, or in the night for us since we ran on nocturnal schedule. As we peeked into the open doors, I was almost taken back by the sight, was this really our regular food court?  
A number of dressed Christmas trees lined one of the walls. The regular long tables were moved and divided into smaller tables haphazardly place all over the hall. All the tables had white cloths with snowflake patterns and several candles for light. The windows were decorated with hollies, red curtains, and paper snowflakes hanging from the curtains rods. The sky outside was pitch black and would not display a sunrise for another couple of hours.

Vanessa scanned the room placed for us to sit. "Oh there's Michael! I'll see if his table has place for three more!"

My phone started to ring in my purse; I felt the vibration through the fabric. As I picked it up, I read the rare words 'Mom' on the screen.

"I'll find you two later", I said distantly as I unlocked the screen. Vanessa nodded and started to walk over to the table in her high heels with Joanna right behind her.

I put the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"Hi, darling", my mother's familiar voice said in the other line. It was rare for her to call. Both she and dad were very busy with their work and certainly took their time between their phone calls to me.

"Hi, mom"

I heard the disappointment in her voice as she answered. "I can hear that you are not very happy about me calling."

"I'm a little surprised, you don't usually call."

Mom sighed in the other line. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. Things have been busy here at court and I am generally bad at contacting people. I... I just wanted to call and wish you a merry Christmas."

I felt my face melt into a soft smile. "A merry Christmas to you too"

"Your Dad and I sent you a gift, but I don't think that it has arrived yet."

"No it hasn't, but thanks", I started to walk around in small, quiet circles. "How are you and Dad doing?"

"We are fine, and Leo was here last school break, too bad that you- - Yes, what is it, Vincent?"

My mother turned away from the phone and started to talk with my dad in the background. "Ariana, we need to leave now, or we will be late for the dinner."

"Are you two going out for dinner?" I asked when Mom returned to the phone.

"It's been too long since your father and I did anything like that. Take care, sweetheart. I love you", my mother said.

"I love you too, Mom", I mumbled and waited for the signal that she had disconnected the call. I put the phone back in my little purse actually felt a little happier that she had called. Ariana Szelsky had a spot in the council at the royal court and was almost always busy. When I got older and understood how much she worked, I was surprised that she managed to take the time off to birth me and Leo.

"Mirabel?"

I turned around to the mentioning of my name, said by a familiar voice with a very familiar accent that woke up small butterflies in my stomach. From what I could see in the dim lightning from the lamps on the wall, Alexei had also dressed up for Christmas dinner. Instead of his training clothes he wore a pair of amazingly well-fitting dark jeans and a light grey shirt that stretched slightly over his torso and he had folded up the sleeves to his elbows. On his left wrist, he still wore the wrist-securer after the incident with his combat partner. He even seemed to have spent a little extra time on his chin-length hair to arrange it in a nice bun in the back of his head.

"Wow you look good!" It slipped out before I managed to stop it, even though there was nothing wrong with giving him a compliment.

Alexei smiled and nodded towards me. "You look good as well, red suits you."

I felt my face heat up. "Thanks."

"Why are you staying here over Christmas? Do you not you want to go home and see your family?"

I lowered my head and shrugged my shoulders, trying to think of a good explanation instead of saying that I had stayed a school to see him. "I wanted to spent time with my friends before we graduate."

If he bought the explanation or not, he didn't comment further on it. He nodded towards the food court. "Have you picked a seat?"

"Vanessa and Joanna are saving a seat for me", I said. "Do you have anywhere to sit?"

Alexei shook his head.

"Then I'm sure we can find a seat for you at our table", I said. Alexei's lips pulled up into a small smile and he offered his arm to me, like a gentleman escorting a lady. When we entered the hall, I searched the room to spot where my friends had placed themselves. I spotted Vanessa's glittery dress seated at a table along the left wall from the entrance, sitting with Joanna, Michael Zeklos and two other guys I didn't recognize.  
When Vanessa saw who I brought to the table, she shone up and scooted to the side to make a space for Alexei to place an additional chair. Reluctantly, I sunk down on the only empty chair at the table, between Michael and Joanna.

* * *

_And there you have chapter five, there are flying some sweet sparkles between the two sweethearts of St. Vladimir's! I'll introduce Rose and Dimitri to the story soon :)_

_Another thanks to my wonderful Beta who edits my chapters faster than I would ever ask for :)_

_Love, Zeraphime_


	6. Chapter 6

**Six **

_**Alexei Boyarov**_  
_**December, Christmas break**_

The school's Christmas dinner was the last place I wanted to be right now. Everyone at the table apart from Mirabel was unknown to me, all familiar but no one I had been introduced to earlier. When they all greeted me, the guys did it with a coldness that clearly told me that they were not enjoying having a dhampir at their "VIP-table". The dark haired girl that used to hang with Mirabel greeted me politely while the other one, a blonde Moroi, greeted me with a handshake and a look that made me feel unusually exposed. It almost felt as if she was undressing me with her eyes. She was practically undressed as well, wearing a glittery tube dress that barely reached mid-thigh and slipped down a little, giving everyone a clear view of her small cleavage.

The dinner would not have been so horrible if I'd had someone to converse with, no one apart from Mirabel and the blonde girl, Vanessa, felt that they needed or wanted to talk to me. I was not interested in talking to Vanessa; every time she spoke to me she touched either my arm or my thigh which I found very uncomfortable. Mirabel was a little too far away for me to speak to her, so I was only contented with looking at her.

As always, she looked spectacular. The red dress she wore made her slim Moroi figure seem curvier and brought out some red shades in her dark brown hair. She had a simple make-up that emphasized her features instead of ruining them, as many girls I saw managed to do. She constantly looked puzzled, as if she had something on her mind that she couldn't get rid of. She almost refused to meet anyone's gaze, no matter how much I tried to catch hers. Seriousness suited her; however, she was as most beautiful when she smiled.

When dinner was over, the tables were moved to make way for a type of dance floor. The blonde girl in the tube-dress, Vanessa, was talking to me, but I barely heard what she said. All I could hear was the sound of Mirabel's heels on the floor as she walked away. The small package containing a small bracelet immediately felt heavier in my pocket. It was a Christmas gift to Mirabel. I hadn't been able to go to a store and buy it; they didn't allow many trips to places outside campus during the semesters, so I had taken a little bit of a chance when I ordered it online. However, I was hoping that it looked as good on her as I had imagined it would.

Vanessa kept talking next to me, sensually touching my arm as she spoke but I couldn't hear anything she said. Apparently, my lack of interest in her attempt to hold a conversation was obvious. She playfully slapped my arm to get my attention.

"Are you listening to me?" she asked and turned my face towards her with her hand. I looked down on her, my expression must have told her that I wasn't. All I noticed was that her grey eyes were lined by too much eyeliner.

"Sorry, what did you say?" I asked.

Vanessa gave me a small smile and discreetly licked her lips. "I was asking if you wanted to have a beer, a drink or something like that."

I narrowed my eyebrows. "You can buy that here?"

Vanessa rolled her eyes and patted my cheek with a soft hand. She leaned up on her toes and spoke low close to my ear: "I have some on my room... secretly of course."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Mirabel rapidly walking towards the open doors leading out to the main hall. I followed her steps with my eyes as she vanished around the corner into the corridor leading to the dorm building.

"Excuse me", I said and gently pushed Vanessa aside. I hurried after her, hoping that I could catch her before I lost sight of her.

After turning down the same corner I had seen her round, I saw her at the end of the corridor. "Mirabel!"

She stopped, turned around and waited for me to catch up with her. When I reached her, I noticed a slight redness in the corner of her eyes. Had she been crying?

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Ehm... Back to my room, I'm not feeling very well", Mirabel said and waved with her hand. I had a feeling of that she was lying, but I didn't comment it.

"I... I have a gift for you!" I blurted out and started to dig in my pocket. I had planned on pulling her aside when everyone was dancing to give her this, but I guessed that being alone with her in a corridor would suffice.

Mirabel's stern face turned into a light expression on surprise. "You got me a Christmas present?"

I felt my heart rate speed up as I held the little wrapped box towards Mirabel. I was suddenly hit by the thought that she might not even have noticed me in the way I had noticed her. Sure, she had sought my company and hadn't hesitated in asking questions to find out more things about me…. But that didn't mean in any way that she _liked _me in that. Perhaps I had mistaken her friendliness for something more.

She smiled at me, a good sign at least, and slowly removed the wrapper. Opening the box, her eyes widened and she looked up at me.

"Really? For me?" She asked.

I nodded. "For you."

She picked the small bracelet up and held it up in front of her face. It was two slim silver chains, twisting around each other before connecting to a pinkynail-sized oval covered with small, white stones.

"It's beautiful", she breathed and held it out to me, then reaching her hand out to expose her wrist. "Can you help with the clasp?"

I took the bracelet, opening the clasp by separating the oval with the stones from the silver plate beneath it and clasped it together again around her wrist.

"It suits you perfectly", I smiled, confirming what I had thought in my head when I clicked the image on the Web store. It reminded me of her - pale, slim and delicate. I had never bought jewellery for a girl before, but this bracelet must have been made with Mirabel in thought. Besides, I enjoyed the thought of her wearing something that I had picked out.

Mirabel tore her gaze from the bracelet. "Thank you, Alexei."  
She leaned forward and slowly placer her arms around my neck in a hug. It took me only a fraction of a second to react by placing both my hands onto her warm waist that was beneath the soft material of her dress. Her chest was lightly pressed against mine and I could smell the mixture of her perfume and shampoo.

When she pulled back, far too soon, a light blush appeared onto her cheeks. "I didn't buy you anything for Christmas..."

I shook my head, still holding my hands on her waist. "I bought it because I thought that it suited you, not because I wanted something in return."

She didn't complain or contradict what I said; instead she looked down on the bracelet around her wrist. "No one has ever given me jewellery before", she admitted with a small smile.

"I hope I did not disappoint", I said, returning her smile. My heart rate had slowed down to normal pace, though it felt as if someone had heated up the blood pumping through it. Mirabel looked up at me from under her eyelashes. She slowly shook her head, making the loose locks of hair that had escaped her hairdo grace her cheeks. She quickly glanced to the side, down the corridor, and then leaned up on her tiptoes. She placed only one hand on my shoulder and stretched her neck to press her lips against mine.

It only lasted a second, two at the most, and I was so stuck by surprise that I barely had any time to react. Her lips were as soft as they looked and tasted of raspberry (probably from her lip gloss). After she sunk down back and pulled her head back, she moved her hand from my shoulder to gently stroke my neck.

"You certainly didn't", she assured me.

I was just about to answer, with another kiss if she allowed, when I heard another female voice calling from the other end of the corridor.

"_Alexei!" _

Mirabel and I quickly turned our heads to the source of the voice and saw Vanessa wave at us. "Come one, the dancing has started!"

Mirabel patted my shoulder and gave me a wide smile. "Have fun, party boy."

I sighed quietly and sent her a pleading gaze. "Save me?" I was not a dancer, far from it, and I hadn't planned on staying at the party after the dinner. Staying there without Mirabel being there? I might as well go to bed and sleep.

To my surprise, she nodded. "Go to your room, I'll cover for you."

She turned around and started to walk back down the corridor towards Vanessa. The sound from her heels touching the floor echoed in the empty hallway and I took the chance of fleeing through the door and headed back up to my room.

I was a fighter, a good fighter. I had quick reflexes and wasgood at knocking my opponents off balance. I was rarely caught by surprise.  
Yet almost everything that Mirabel did lately caught me by surprise which I hadn't recovered from until what she was doing was over. She had given me both a hug and a kiss within only a few seconds of each other. Neither time had I reacted with speed and precision as my body and mind possessed.

Whatever Mirabel did to me, I never seemed to be able to predict her. And to be honest, that frightened me a little. Still, this evening had turned out a lot better than I had expected.

* * *

_**Mirabel Szelsky**_

My head was almost spinning and my body still running on the adrenaline from my bold move of kissing Alexei as I walked towards Vanessa at the other end of the corridor. That might have been a very rash decision and it could have been something I would come to regret for the rest of the year. I didn't felt bad about it though. He hadn't pushed me away, but I hadn't kissed him long enough for him to respond to it either.

When I reached Vanessa, she threw her arms out. "Where were you two going?"

I pretended to play completely oblivious. "What? I have a headache, I was about to go up to my room and get an aspirin but I found one in my bag. I have no idea where he was going."

If Vanessa bought my lie or not she didn't show it. She gave up a sigh and pulled her fingers through all the fine layers of her blonde hair. "Fuck, I was just about to make a move!"

I swallowed. "A shame that he had other plans."

She sighed. "I know. And I wore my nicest pair of underwear today..."

I wasn't interested in hearing more about how she planned on seduce the more gorgeous dhampir walking on two legs. So I locked arms with her and walked back with her into the food hall. As she had said, the dance music blasted from the put-up speakers but the "dance floor" was practically empty. I sunk down on a chair at an empty table and started to tap my fingers against the table cloth.

_What kind of mess had I put myself in? _  
It was common for Moroi men to have relationship with dhampir women, which usually resulted in children that continued the dhampir race. Moroi women fooling around with dhampir men were almost unheard of. Though I didn't know if it was unheard of because it barely ever occurred or because no one liked to talk about it.

But I was a teenager! Teenagers did stupid and reckless stuff all the time that didn't follow them through their life. If I had a short but sweet (intimate) relationship with a dhampir in my last year in high school, who would bother to remember that in 10 or 15 years? When I got a job and found myself a Moroi man to marry, no one would remember this if it ever came out. I will had been a foolish teenager that once enjoyed the company of a dhampir man, I was hardly the first.

There was only one semester left until I graduated, I planned on enjoying it completely.

* * *

_Love is in the aaaair! _

_Have a good weekend everyone!_

_Love, Zeraphime_


	7. Chapter 7

**Seven **

_**Alexei Boyarov**_  
_**March, Spring break**_

When school took a short leisure time for spring break, I travelled to the Royal Court in Pennsylvania for my tests and training by two of the guardians to the King and Queen. From the information I had gotten so far, I could train in the combat rooms as often as I wished, either alone or with someone to train with. The two royal guardians that Headmaster Alto mentioned would take as much time as they could spare to judge my abilities. The rest of the time I was free to do whatever I wanted.

I pulled my fingers through my hair, registering the odd and unfamiliar feeling of my hair being cut short. I had asked Mirabel to help me cut it, a task that she had performed very well. I had grown my hair out in the first place because I was too lazy to cut it, or perhaps because I didn't trust anyone to do it while I lived in Russia. It wasn't short-short now, I could still run my fingers through it, and I had a feeling that it will be a lot more comfortable than having to brush hair that escaped my bun away from my face while I trained with the Royal guardians.

I leaned the back of my head against the flight chair, I exhaled slowly, closed my eyes and listened to the even, rumbling sound from the plane's engine and propellers. Escaping school during the holiday was both a relief and a pity. The relationship between me and Mirabel had been both amazing and complicated; we had taken every moment we could to sneak a kiss without anyone noticing. We didn't want to display our relationship, not many would accept a Moroi-Dhampir couple even if it was in high school.

But god, keeping it a secret was hard! I thought that I had a good self-control, I thought that I could handle anger, sorrow and other feelings when there were other people around. But with Mirabel, I could not control anything. Or rather, I did not want to control myself. I could barely put my hands on the fine curves of her hips before I sensed the arousal rise in me. To my embarrassment, I was sure that she could feel my arousal as well…

Only thinking of her, the flowery scent of her hair and the softness of her warm skin that I either pressed my lips against or touched with my palms, rose the arousal in me. I shook my head to erase the pictures of her in my head, now was not the time to think about them, and began to recite all the Russian saints I remembered from school in my head. _That ought to do it. _

I landed at the airport in Philadelphia and rented a taxi that I took me the Ponoco Mountains where the Royal Court was currently residing. I knew that Court, for human eyes, was disguised as an academic institution and the cab driver seemed to buy my explanation that I was a foreign exchange student that enjoyed to listen to physicists and chemists on my spring break. Arriving at the gates to Court, a man was waiting for me outside of them. He was in his early 30's with sandy-blonde, short cut hair and the muscular built that every dhampir had. In the chilly early March weather he wore jeans and a shirt, but with a thick hoodie over it. In a belt tied around his waist, though concealed by his hoodie, he had the mandatory silver stake and a gun.

As I approached, he gave me a friendly smile and reached out his hand. "Mr. Boyarov, I presume? Guardian Eddie Castile, it is nice to meet you."

I shook his hand. "It is nice to meet you as well, Guardian Castile."

He made a gesture with his hand towards the Royal Court. It was all located behind the safety and protection of durable wards in a secluded area of Pennsylvania. It was the most important location in the whole vampire world as all the laws were established here. Also, it was the resident of the Monarch and her family.

It was like its own small, secluded city, completely sheltered from the outside world. In many ways, it reminded me of Kremlin in Moscow or images I had seen of the Tower of London. Strong walls, and wards in Court's case, surrounding the heart of a whole civilization.

The court itself was a collection of Gothic buildings, beautiful and ornate, spread across well-tended grounds adorned with trees and flowers that must take hours to tend. Though now it was all covered in a fine layer of snow. It is a known fact that Court, though its primary purpose was to establish all the important things as laws and decisions important for the Moroi society, was also a great entertaining location, housing many residential areas, shops, restaurants and much more. The court even had its own landing strip for airplanes.

"Is this your first visit to Court?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yes, I arrived to America less than a year ago."

"Your English is very good."

"Thank you", I said. "Have you always worked here at Court?"

"No, only a few years. After my graduation I spend a few years in Palm Springs in California guarding Princess Dragomir, it was before the new Law of Successions passed, until the danger was over and she could return here and attend university."

I had heard about the mission when the Dragomir Princess, Jillian, was hidden away in California to save her from people that wanted hear dead in order to throw her sister, Queen Vasilisa, off the throne. The mission was rather notorious, I had heard about it when I was in Russia due to the importance of it. Many had been relieved when the Law of Successions passed and she could return without fearing for her life.

"Are you not with her?" I asked, assuming that he still was her guardian since he had that position in Palm Springs.

Guardian Castile smiled at me. "I am. All schools are closed for spring break, she is here visiting the Queen."

I nodded, noting that I should have known that. "Of course."

Guardian Castile gave me a very brief explanation to what all the many buildings that we could see contained as we headed towards one of the residential buildings. I doubted that I would be able to remember what they were, but I wasn't here to learn _all _the buildings yet. As long as I found the way from my room to where I would train and to some sort of cafeteria I would be fine.

The residential building reminded me of a hotel, a very nice hotel. The entrance opened up to a shiny reception desk with a tall, blonde Moroi standing behind it. A wide staircase led up to the first of the four floors of apartments, every apartment supposedly decorated to fit the standards of any Royal Moroi.

"Hi Caroline, Mr. Boyarov here has been promised a guest room", Guardian Castle smiled to the receptionist. She entered something into the computer and turned around to grab a key from a small cabinet hanging on the wall.

She handed the key to me with a smile. "Please return it to me, or another receptionist, when you leave, okay?"

I nodded again, putting the key inside my jacket pocket. "I will."

When Guardian Castile had assured himself that I was all set and didn't have any additional questions, he held out his hand to me and wished me the best of luck with everything. I sincerely thanked him for taking his time guiding me all the way to my residence before I headed up the stairs to my room.

Opening the door to the guest room, I was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful decorating of it. Cream-coloured walls, dark wooden floor with a large oriental carpet on top of it and an adjoining bathroom with both a shower and a bathtub. The room had a wide bed, practically a double-bed, a several paintings on the walls along with a large mirror and an old-fashioned chest-of-drawer.

I had never been in a real hotel before, but I almost felt as if I was in on right now.

I dropped my bag on the floor, planning on unpack it a little later, and eyed the wide bed. It looked _very _comfortable. I made a short jump, aiming for the coffee-coloured bedspread, and landed back-first on the fluffy duvet and the soft mattress.

I let out a deep sigh, closing my eyes and adjusted my position on the bed. I wasn't planning on lying there for very long; however, the longer I stayed on the bed I felt my eyelids grow heavier and heavier. It couldn't have taken more than a few minutes before I was sound asleep.

* * *

I awoke with a start four hours later. The sky outside the window had begun to light up, though the sunrise hadn't begun to rise yet. It was 6 o'clock and my stomach rumbled with hunger. I hadn't eaten since the plane trip, which had arrived to court in the early afternoon. I couldn't remember if I had seen any place where I could get food, but there must be some place at Court where a hungry lad could get something to eat.

Caroline at the reception was kind enough to give me a Court map with directions to the mall/restaurant area, preventing me from wandering around until I died of starvation. Luckily for me, it wasn't very hard with the right directions.  
The mall was filled with people, many older Moroi but also younger men and women that might be visiting family over spring break. The loud murmuring of the crowds made me slightly uneasy, I wasn't overly fond of large crowds, but I forced myself to relax. Court was one of the most protected areas in the entire world for Moroi. I had no reason to be on my watch; I had no Moroi to guard and there was a very small chance that any Strigoi would pass though the protective walls.

An Asian restaurant's red board caught my gaze and I rapidly steered my steps towards it. Asian food had never sounded more perfect right now. Actually… any kind of food sounded perfect right now. I took a seat at a table close to the arches that separated the restaurant's front wall from the rest of the mall.

The restaurant wasn't very crowded, the pizza place two shops down seemed more popular tonight, and not even half of the tables were occupied. A couple gazing into each other's eyes across a lit tea-light sat two tables away from me, two Moroi women shared a plate of fried shrimps in the corner and two other women seemed to have a silent conversation over a small glass of wine each. I had never met those two women in my life, yet I instantly recognized them.

The delicate Moroi woman, with platinum-blonde hair shining like the moonlight itself, wasn't a woman that one just passed without acknowledging. Not only did she move with grace, she even sipped on her white wine with a stunning elegance that would make any other Queen jealous, but she also owned a sense of charisma and grandness that automatically made gazes turn towards her. I almost felt an urge to rise and get down on one knee before her.

Not that it surprised me, I doubted that there was a Moroi, Dhampir or Strigoi in this world that hadn't seen her face somewhere. She didn't need a crown or a tiara to be recognized; _Queen Vasilisa. _

That meant, although I might have been able to figure that out sooner or later, that the tanned and dark-haired Dhampir woman across her that was devouring a plate of fried rice and sweet-and-sour chicken as if she hadn't seen food for a week was her famous guardian; _Rose Hathaway._

Guardian Hathaway was a legend, a legend very alive and not soon to be forgotten. Her skills, her background, her experience; all of that made her a passionate protector to the Queen – and her best friend – and the most famous guardian before she even turned 20.

I sat at perplexed for a couple of seconds, not able to tear my gaze away from two of the most recognizable people in the Moroi world. I suddenly started to get nervous. When headmaster Alto had mentioned the first time that I would be training with Rosemarie Hathaway and Dimitri Belikov, I had thought of it as a great chance to test my skills with two of the world's most famous guardians. However, I hadn't braced myself for the impact of what actually seeing one of them up-close would be.

There wasn't much to say about that experience, apart from my head being completely blank. The thought of testing my skills against Guardian Hathaway and Guardian Belikov now frightened me more than it excited me. I wasn't close to matching their skills in any way, even Guardian Hathaway while she was tired and drunk could probably defeat me. I would most likely have to face the fact that I might not be as good as I think I am.

However, after about half a minute of staring and at least two sceptical gazes from Guardian Hathaway, I forced myself to look away. I didn't want her to remember me when we met at the training hall tomorrow as the creepy guy who stared at her at the restaurant. They say that the first impression of someone never changes, and I didn't want "creepy restaurant guy" to be the first impression Guardian Hathaway had of me.

Luckily, I got something else to focus on when my food arrived. Hungrily, and without bothering trying to figure out how to use chop sticks, I grabbed my fork and began to eat.

* * *

_Sorry for the little late update, I believed that I planned to update every weekend :) I hope that you enjoy the chapter and Rose and Lissa are officially introduced in this chapter. _

_I just wanted to add that Rose, Dimitri, Lisa ect ect will not appear a lot in this story. I an planning somewhat of a sequel that will circle around them and their future :)  
_

_I hope that you enjoyed the chapter!  
_

_Love, Zeraphime_


	8. Chapter 8

**Eight **

_**Rose Hathaway-Belikova**_

The alarm on my bedside table set off at 05:30 and abruptly woke me from my sleep. Between the small gaps in the night curtains, I could see that she sky outside was still dark or perhaps close to sunrise. Sitting up, I remembered that I had had a wonderful dream though I couldn't remember what it had been about. I pulled my fingers though my tangled hair, it probably looked like a bird's nest. Beside me, Dimitri was still snoring softly, sprawled out on his stomach with one arm hanging over the edge of the bed.

Smiling softly at him, I vanished under the duvet and crawled up to his warm body, pressing my naked body against his. I pressed my lips against his shoulders, kissing my way up to his neck before attacking the side of his face that was not resting on his pillow. He jerked slightly and lifted his head, looking around a little disoriented.

I smiled wider. "Good morning."

Dimitri's let his head fall back onto the pillow, though he rolled around onto his back and slid his arms around me.

"Did you have a good night's sleep?" I grinned. I could immediately see when he had had slept deeply though the night. Normally, he was on alert 24 hours day; not even relaxing fully when he slept.

Dimitri nodded and nuzzled his nose the nape of my neck, sliding one hand down from my back to rest against my naked hip. I could feel him smile against my skin as he spoke. "I have, someone wore me out last night."

"I regret nothing", I said casually and rolled off him, though remaining closely pressed against his side.

"What's the time?" Dimitri asked, voice still drowsy from sleep.

"Five-thirty", I informed him. "We are meeting with the student from St. Vladimir's at seven."

Dimitri narrowed his eyebrows and glanced at me. "So why did you wake me up so early? Why are _you_ not sleeping?"

I leaned down, kissing him softly on his lips. "I was thinking a long shower and a proper breakfast."

"Oh", Dimitri smiled, pressing my head down with his hand behind my neck to get another kiss. "No coffee and bagel to-go today?"

"Got to keep my strength up, comrade", I said and rolled away from him, throwing my legs over the side of the bed. Our clothes from last night were randomly spread out over the room, we had managed to toss them around fairly good last night judging by Dimitri's shirt on the third shelf of the bookcase and my bra hanging from the floor lamp in the corner next to our bed.

Like the rest of the guardians working at court, Dimitri and I had our own apartment in the Guardian Housing Complex. It wasn't very large, hardly larger than a shared double-room at St. Vladimir's, though it had a decent kitchen, a bathroom with both a shower and a tub, a bedroom and something that could be used for a small living room.

* * *

After showering and blow-drying my hair, Dimitri stayed a couple of more minutes in the shower, I opened the closet and picked out my regular training clothes. A normal day I would have worn my uniform, though not when I was going to examine and fight a young novice to see if he would be good enough for Lissa's son.

"Have I said how beautiful you look in those clothes?" Dimitri's voice asked from behind me. I spun around, my hair busy with putting my hair up in a bun. He was leaning against the door frame with only a towel around his hips. He was too good looking to be legal. I regretting putting my clothes on, I could give up a little of my breakfast to spend 15-20 minutes in bed again.

"Yes", I smiled. "Many times."

"I cannot tell you enough times", he said. I felt my chest warm up, my right hand immediately reaching out to twist the wedding ring on my fourth finger. That had grown to be a habit after almost six years of marriage. I had legally changed my name to Hathaway-Belikova, but the "Hathaway-stamp" had been difficult to get rid of among everyone else. I practically went by Hathaway during work and Belikov during my private time.

I walked up to him and kissed him lightly, sliding my hands over his naked torso. "I love you."

"I love you too", he mumbled.

Though I had been reluctant towards marriage for many years, tying the knot with Dimitri had been the best thing I had ever done in my life. We had always been the dream-team among the guardians as we complimented each other during fights. We got married in Russia, my dad had been there, though my mother had politely declined to witness due to her work so we decided that we let the family members' available witness, with all of Dimitri's family present. Lissa had taken a few days off, if she legally could do that as Queen, and let Christian rule during the days she went with us to Russia.

Upon our return to court, many wrinkled their noses when hearing about our marriage. Guardians didn't get married, especially not to each other. It had taken a few months, actually it had taken almost up to a year, before everyone started to realize that our marriage would not affect our work. In all honesty, we had almost gotten better at our work. Being married was another thing than just being together; we lived for each other but we primary lived for protecting Lissa and Christian.

It I hadn't married Dimitri and he'd die before I had time to change my mind, I had a feeling that I would regret that for the rest of my life. I loved Dimitri more than anything and I knew that he had wanted to marry me long before I actually accepted one of his proposals (He'd made several, rather none-serious proposals that I had joked away before I was finally ready to say yes. Then, he had given me a real proposal with a ring and all). It would kill me if he died and I had been too scared, selfish and stubborn to let him have one of his biggest dreams. We were promised to each other, legally and spiritually, until death did us part.

"You need to hurry up", I pointed up, glancing at the clock. "Or I will have to take that damn bagel to-go."

* * *

A few minutes before 7 o'clock, Dimitri and I crossed the grass field and headed towards the building dedicated to keep guardians fit and in shape with their fighting techniques. It didn't formally have a name so everyone kept calling it the Guardian Hall.

At this time on a Tuesday, the Hall was fairly occupied. Normally, guardians were at their busiest on weekends and evenings when their assignments had more free time. Guardians living and working at court had more free time than others since the Royal Moroi here were very well-protected.

There was already someone in the hall, I could hear the subdued and familiar sounds of fists hitting a punching bag through the door.

"So how are we going to do this?" I asked. "We launch at him one at the time and see how good he is?"

Dimitri glanced at me with a small and crooked smile. "I do not have a better idea."

I opened the door and tossed my bag to the ground by the door. The hitting against the punching bag stopped as he noticed the thump. The training room at the Guardian Hall smelled, rather uncomfortably, of ingrained sweat and the smell of new, leathery equipment.

"Mr. Bovaroy, I assume?" I asked, rolling my sleeves up on my shirt as the young man focused his attention from the equipment to us. He was dressed in regular training clothes; sweatpants and black hoodie with a large text in Cyrillic across the front.

"Boyarov", Dimitri corrected me with a discreet clearing of his throat.

"Mr. Boyarov", I corrected myself. _Damn, why didn't I take time to learn to pronounce his name before I spoke? _

The guy stepped away from the punching bag and walked up to us, his eyes large with awe and astonishment. He was way taller than me, towering over me as he looked at me as if I was a wonder from another world. He held out his hand to both of us and shook our hands with a firm grip.

"Guardian Hathaway, Guardian Belikov, I am honored to meet you", he said. His Russian accent was far stronger than Dimitri's had ever been. And I had to admit, despite my eternal love for Dimitri and our binding promises of ever-lasting marriage, that the man was good-looking. He was a decade younger than me, only 19 years old, with a very distinguished and strong jaw and high cheekbones. Low eyebrows above almond-shaped eyes made him look fierce yet still composed. The expression reminded me of the changes in faces in Dimitri when he was calm and when he was in a fight.

The novice walked aside to the benches where he had placed his things and removed his hoodie with a swift movement. Below the hoodie, his tank top revealed broad shoulders and defined muscles. He looked strong, but the size of his muscles didn't look as if they would interfere with his speed and flexibility. Physically, he was the idealistic guardian.

I glanced at Dimitri. "Who will go first?"

"I will", Dimitri said and took his own hoodie off. The two men took their places in front of each other in the middle of the training floor, keeping their eyes locked as if they were predators trying to find the precise and best moment to strike.

The novice began the fight. He launched towards Dimitri, a little sloppily I might add, but didn't try to hit or grab him. When Dimitri jumped aside, so did he. For a few minutes, I found the fighting dance odd; the novice launched, jumped aside and spun. He didn't make any attempt to a serious attack.

Then again, neither did Dimitri. He didn't do any unnecessary launchings, but he didn't attack either. He remained passive and patient, waiting for the novice to make the first move. I knew him, I knew his fighting style and his hidden signs. Hell, he had been the one who taught me everything I knew. Also, I knew that we were here to test the novice. However, it seemed as if the novice was also testing Dimitri.

Suddenly, the novice attacked and Dimitri tried to grab him as he came closer. But the novice changed his height by bending his knees, lowering down and rammed his shoulder into Dimitri's solar plexus. Dimitri coughed as the air abruptly left his lungs and he staggered back several steps. Proudly, the novice straightened his back and rose his fists in an attempt to take his opponent down before he could recover. Just as he was about to deliver a hit to Dimitri's head, Dimitri straightened up as if he hadn't been hit at all blocked his attack, returning the favor with a fist to his ribs. The novice lost concentration and balance, twisting to the side in pain, and Dimitri took the chance to kick his legs aside. With a slightly surprised yelp, he slammed back-first onto the floor and Dimitri was rapidly pressing one knee below his breastbone and slammed his palm against his chest as an indication that he staked him.

As Dimitri offered his hand to help the novice up, they exchanged a few short sentences in Russian. I couldn't understand what they said, even after this many years with a Russian I still only knew how to hold a basic conversation, but on the novice's observing face and Dimitri's pedagogical hand gestures, I'd say that he was giving him some feedback. They went their separate ways, the novice to have a few gulps of water and Dimitri to talk to me.

"What did you say to him?" I whispered.

"I only told him what he could have done better, he is very nervous", Dimitri explained. I snuck a peak at the young man; he was pacing back and forth while taking small gulps of water from his bottle.

"Did you also give him tips how to beat me?" I asked with a grin.

Dimitri caught my chin, returned the crooked smile and spoke close to my ear, in a voice low enough for only us to hear the words. "I want to be the only man to get you down on your back."

Still smiling, I reassured that my bun was still intact and took my place in front of the novice. He instantly scrutinized me from head to toe with the same looks of a predator he had given Dimitri. He didn't make any fake attacks this time; he immediately launched at me, trying to get a grip of some part of my body. I ducked, spun around and tried to reach his back. Rapidly, he spun to face me, blocking my kick towards his lower leg and my circular blow to his head. He pushed my arm away, grabbed my wrist and twisted my arm up to an uncomfortable position.

_My god, _the kid didn't look it, but he was strong as an ox. It didn't seem as if he put a lot of effort into the single movement, but it felt as if he could twist my arm out of its socket with a single and simple twist.

He pulled my arm towards him, snaking his other arm around my throat and locked my back against his torso.  
Stepping aside, although it tightened his grip around my throat, I jammed my elbow into his stomach. I aimed for his solar plexus, though I think I missed at hit the right ride of his ribcage. It worked though, he flinched and loosened his grip around my neck just enough for me to slip through. He tried to grab me again, but with me still holding a good grip around his arm I stepped forward, pushing him backwards, and put my foot behind his feet. He tripped backwards and lost balance.

It wasn't really taking down a Strigoi. Had he been one, I would have finished him off long ago. Fighting another guardian, or soon-to-be guardian, was different than from fighting a Strigoi. However, he hadn't been bad.

"Good work, Mr. Boyarov", I said, slightly out of breath after the fight. I stepped off the training floor and grabbed my water bottle, empting half of its content into my mouth. Dimitri had another rapid conversation with the novice in Russian.

"What do you think?" Dimitri asked after the novice had left the room and the door had closed behind him.

"Not bad", I admitted. "Not amazing but definitely not bad."

"Good enough to guard Lucas after graduation?"

I hesitated. Lissa's and Christian's oldest son Lucas was four years old, his guardians wouldn't be very occupied until he grew into adolescence or young adulthood. During that time, young Mr. Boyarov would have plenty of time to practice with other more experienced guardians to maintain his skills.

"Yes, good enough for that. Unless he will fit better in a more active assignment", I said. "Guarding a four-year-old might seem very dull for a new graduate."

Dimitri gave me a light smile and pulled me into his arm, placing a light kiss on my cheek. "I have a feeling that he would see it as a great honor to be a guardian to the prince, despite the lack of action."

* * *

_I just realized that I didn't update this weekend, it completely slipped my mind! However, I will update today for a small treat before the weekend :) _

_Also, this was the first chapter with Rose and Dimitri! :)_

_Hope that you all have a nice weekend!_

_Love, Zeraphime_


	9. Chapter 9

**Nine **

_**Dimitri Belikov**_

_I am walking in a small garden, a wonderful garden with flowering bushes and green grass surrounding the paving. Despite the darkness, the paved walk is lit up as if the full moon was shining, even though I don't see one on the evening sky._

_A light laugh compels me to turn around just in time to see a pale Moroi figure vanish behind a stone column. She peaks her head forward, exposing a light complexioned face and an eye the same colour as melted caramel. _

_She laughs again, behind me this time, and I do not have time to turn around before I feel her jump up on my back, her slim arms around my neck and her thighs pressing against my hips. Her silky, black hair falls over my shoulders and tickles my chin. _

"_Ya poymal tebya, Dimi", __**(I caught you, Dimi)**__ She whispers in my ear, a faint scent of a raspberry lip-gloss from her lips reaches my nose. _

_I hear myself chuckle. "Da, vy sdelali", __**(Yes, you did) **__I say and let go of her legs, turning around to face her. She has already turned her back to me, running down the pavement with her hair flying behind her. I set of after her, reaching my hand out to grab her. _

"_Nina!" I call after her, but she does not turn around. By the large column she earlier vanished behind, she turns her head and gives me a vibrant smile. She waves at me to follow her, her lips forming words but no sound comes out._

_She vanishes into a wooden door placed between two of the stone columns. Carefully, she opens the door by pressing her palm against the surface. A warm light shines out from gap in the door, colouring Nina's black hair more dark brown. Her tall frame shrinks before my eyes, her hips and shoulders grows broader and curvier. _

_She turns around, fully around this time, allowing me to get a good look on her face. There is no mistake in those fierce eyes, those curved lips and the thick mane of hair that I love to run my fingers through._

Rose.

_Her eyebrows narrow in worry and she opens her mouth to speak. When she cannot say what is on her mind, she raises her arms and turns my attention from her to the hallway. _

_Inside the newly build house, the walls are painted in blood. Blood-splatter from several dead bodies are haphazardly spread out over the hallway and the living room, blood has also spotted the cream white walls with dark stains that pours down the wall like tears of blood. Rose turns to me again, tears beginning to form in her eyes. _

"_What happened here, Dimitri?" she asks. _

_I can only shake my head, not knowing how to answer. Rose steps away from me, stops in the middle of the living room with her back to me. Her posture suddenly turns stiff and tense, her fists tightly closing against her thighs. I walk up to her, sliding one arm around her waist and the other one across her chest and draw her against my torso, protecting her. _

"_Why did she have to die?" Rose suddenly asks, nodding towards the floor. _

"_Who is dead? I ask, narrowing my eyebrows. I try to make her look me in the eyes, but her gaze is not on me. She looks at something a few inches to the left of us, by our feet. _

_I slowly glance down, though fearing for what I may see. A woman lies on the floor by our feet, splayed out on her back in front of the TV. Her throat is ripped, blood covering her neck and down on her chest making it look as if she wears an abnormal necklace. Her black hair has spilled out around her head, mixing with the blood. _

_I look twice at her before I realize who I am looking down on. In my veins, my blood slowly freezes. _

Nina.

_I had seen her only minutes ago. She had been alive and well, laughing and smiling. I feel an urge to kneel beside her to see if she is alive, but I already know that she is not. She had been dead for a long time.  
I turn to Rose again, feeling an urge to kiss her to sooth my racing heart. However, as I turn towards her, she is no longer standing in front of me. She is also on the floor, her dark brown hair also spilling out over the floor, her eyes are also cold and empty like a doll's. Her throat also ripped open. _

_Abruptly, a rapid movement to my left makes me tear my gaze from my beloved wife on the floor. I barely have the time to look at my attacker before the Strigoi roughly buries his fingers into my throat and rips it out. _

I awoke with a jerk, my heart beating rapidly and hard in my ribcage. A thin sheet of sweat covered my back and chest, as well as my neck and forehead. At first, I couldn't comprehend my surroundings. I still saw the spots of blood on the walls and the dried pools on the floor. Then, as I realized that I was in mine and Rose's bedroom at court, the blood began to fade away from the walls and I couldn't see anything abnormal in the dim bedroom. I began to calm down, my breathing returning more and more to normal. Beside me, Rose groaned lightly and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"What's wrong, Dimitri?" she yawned.

I rubbed my hands against my face and blinked a couple of times to get rid of the sleepiness. "A nightmare."

Rose sat up, her hair ruffed from her constant tossing and turning in her sleep, and put her hand on my back. "You are covered in sweat", she commented.

I rubbed my eyes, trying to get rid of the pictures of the bloody house out of my head. "It was just a nightmare..."

"Do you want to tell me what it was about?" Rose leaned her head on my shoulder and the quick jerks of her head revealed that she seemed to be close to falling asleep again. I shot a glance at the clock, 03:56 pm.

I shook my head and placed a light kiss on her forehead. "No, we should go back to sleep."

Without complaint, probably because she was too tired, she lay down again and snuggled close to me, putting her arm across my torso. I folded my arms around her, closing my eyes in an attempt to sleep. It didn't work, I was wide awake.

Why had I dreamt about the Badica Massacre? Why had Nina been in my dream? I hadn't seen, spoken or even thought about her for over 20 years. We had a brief relationship the last semester in high school, before we graduated, which we called off mutually as soon as we both left the Academy.

_What had made me dream about her?_

I lifted my hand, trying to see how much my hand trembled in the dim light in the bedroom. I felt cold, as if I had been outside in a chilly weather for too long. Dreaming about my ex-girlfriend hadn't frightened me, it had just been odd and unexpected. My fears had been awoken by seeing Rose as one of the victims at the massacre. Only seeing her in that house on that day along with the rest of the corpses had frightened me. What if there had been Strigoi still lurking in the house?  
Dreaming about her being one of the victims… I never wanted to see that image before my eyes again.

What had been uncomfortable with the dream though, apart from Rose's intervention, was that it didn't feel entirely like a dream.

A part of it felt as if they were memories.

I lightly kissed Rose's forehead, hugging her tighter. She sighed lightly in her sleep, moving her head a little against my chest. Holding her in my arms made me feel better, more secure. She was here with me, not a victim of a group of Strigoi. She was in my arms where she was supposed to be.

I closed my eyes and tried to pick out happier memories to focus on instead of my nasty dream. After perhaps half an hour, I felt my body relax as I began to doze off. I feel asleep without any trouble or frightening images, though I feel asleep with a lightly uneasy feeling in my stomach that what I head dreamt about was a part of my own memories.

* * *

The following morning, I asked Rose to train the novice, Alexei, by herself. I made up an excuse that I had some other business to do. I hated keeping things from her, I would have to apologize later and tell her what I had been doing. I had purposely made it sound like as if it was guardian business, although they were entirely personal. But before I did that, I wanted to confirm or discard my suspicions.

After kissing Rose goodbye, I went in the opposite direction and headed down the stairs to the underground archives. The archives were heavily protected, some files contained very sensitive information while others were simply records of old events. I swiped my card though the reader and pushed the thick door open, only to enter into a smaller room before I would reach the actual Moroi archives. It wasn't a very welcoming room, cold grey walls behind the guard's desk and several monitoring screens on the wall on the opposite side.

Guardian Johnson was on duty tonight, resting in his armchair by the desk with a football magazine in front of his face. When he heard the door open, he rapidly put the magazine and his feet down.

"Guardian Belikov", he greeted me and smoothed his hair down. Guardian Johnson was a rather young man, in his late 20's, though injured his leg a few months ago and limped so badly that he couldn't work in the field. The poor lad had been assigned the attendant of the archives instead.

"Guardian Johnson", I greeted him back and shook his hand. "I would like access to the archives."

"Of course, of course", he said without hesitation and swiped his card through the reader into the archives. He didn't ask what I needed in the archives and I was strangely grateful for that. Guardian business wasn't always allowed to be explained, so in a way I wasn't surprised that he didn't try to exhort information from me, but personal matters were many times declined. However. Though, something about the awe-inspiring look he gave me almost made me sure that he would have let me in anyway.

The archives looked a lot more impressive than the guard's little office. The walls were made out of stone, reaching high above my head. Row after row of heavy bookshelves stretched out before me, all perfectly arranged rows and with contents sorted in alphabetical order. Dim lightning gave the underground cellar a mystical feeling.

I made my way down the aisle between two bookshelves marked A14 and B1, following the small labels on the shelves that would lead me to the files on the Badica Massacre. Pulling out the thick file from the shelf, I brought it over to an empty table by the stone wall.  
The file contained a lot of things; images from the crime scene, the guardian's present after the discovery, the guardian's discovering it (I got an uneasy feeling in my stomach as I read Rose's name along with the rest, mine among them) and a very long and detailed report how the case had proceeded. Finally, close to the back of the file, I found what I was looking for; the list of victims.

_Badica, Amy _

_Badica, Samuel_

_Badica, Daniel_

_Badica, Thomas_

_Boyarov, Nina_

_Drozdov, Milo_

The list continued with the guardians who had died in their service, but I wasn't interested in them now. I kept my gaze locked at the single line with Nina's name on it. _She _had _been one of the victims… _I couldn't remember seeing her in the Badica house the day Rose and I had discover the massacre. Or perhaps I had, but I hadn't recognized her.

I felt a little sad learning about her death, even if it occurred several years ago and even if she didn't have any personal attachment to me anymore. Nina had been a good woman, kind-spirited and witty. I remembered now that she had big dreams after high school, she had wanted to become a lawyer.

There was just one thought nagging in the back of my head that wouldn't vanish.

_Why did I dream of her now? Why had she appeared in my dreams almost 20 years since we last saw each other?_

I put the paper aside, rapidly flipping through the rest of the papers to see if I had missed anything of significance. I had thought that the file was empty, but at the back of it laid several photographs. They weren't from the crime scene, for the people in this photos were alive and smiling into the camera. I don't know where they were from, many looked as if they could have been taken from the frames in the house as they cleaned it out or perhaps sent in from relatives.

Amy Badica was in several of them; a young woman, only 25 when she died, with light blonde hair and white teeth that she showed off in a radiant smile. One picture was of her, her Drozdov husband and their little daughter while the other one was of her brother, his wife and their two sons.

Lastly, I reached a photograph of a familiar face. It was the only image of Nina in the pile, I suppose her loss hadn't been as great for the people at court in comparison to the Badicas' and the Drozdovs'.  
Smiling wide, she looked straight into the camera, her black hair braided and tossed over her shoulder. On her hip, she carried a little boy. He was perhaps three or four years old when the picture was taken, with black hair like his mother though eyes in a darker brown than his mother's light caramel colour. He leaned his head against Nina's shoulder and his arms around her neck. Furthermore, the little boy was a Dhampir.

I turned the photo to look at the backside, someone had written: _Нина__и Алексей__, июнь 2006 г._ Nina and Alexei, June 2006.

I felt my stomach drop. He could have been a Dhampir sibling to her, but I had a feeling that so was not the case. Not only did he look a lot like his mother, Nina, but there was also something very familiar about him. Carefully, I folded the photo in half and slid in into the inside pocket of my jacket before I put the file together exactly as I found it and returned it to its place in the shelf.

* * *

It was shortly after 8 am when I returned to mine and Rose's rooms. Music blasted out from the portable loudspeakers I had given to Rose for her last birthday, coming from the kitchen. A faint smell of meatballs hung in the air and judging from the sizzling sounds, they were still cooking.

"I'm home", I yelled to make myself heard over the music. Immediately, the volume lowered.

"Hi!" Rose yelled back from the kitchen. I hung my jacket up and put my shoes neatly by the door before I went to her. She stood with her back towards me, moving her head along with the beat of the music. Her dark hair was messily put up in a bun and still wet from a recent shower.

"Are you cooking?" I asked skeptically and crossed my arms over my chest.

Rose turned around and shook the frying pan with meatballs a little. "If you count frying pre-made meatballs, yes."

I walked up to her and slid my arms around her waist, placing a long kiss on her cheek. "How has your day been?"

"Good", she said. "The novice did much better today, he even got in a decent block." She lifted her arm to show me a faint but distinctive bruise on the inside of her upper arm. "You got off late today."

I nodded. "Yes, Christian needed me to follow him to the feeders."

"What did you do this morning?" she asked. "I asked around for you after the training but no one seemed to know where you were."

I couldn't help but smile, even though I knew that this would be a conversation that either would pass by easily or put me on the dry side when it came to sex for the next weeks. Rose always seemed to know when I kept something from her.

"I went down to the archives", I admitted.

"The archives?" Rose asked, narrowing her eyebrows. "Why did you need to go down all the way there?"

"After my nightmare last night, there was something that I couldn't keep away from my mind. The file I needed was about the Badica Massacre."

Rose's posture turned stiff in my arms, her otherwise tanned skin paled as I mentioned the name. I believed that her memories of that day was worse than mine, mostly because her experience with Strigoi at that time was practically nonexistent.

She swallowed. "What was the nightmare about?"

She turned around, leaning her backside against the edge of the sink. I kept my arms around her waist and leaned in to press my lips against her forehead. "I was back at my Academy in Siberia, chasing a woman with black hair."

"I'm not surprised", Rose mumbled and glanced up at me with a sly smile.

"Literally chasing her, she was running away from me", I clarified. "Then she entered a house through a door in the garden." I wanted to stop talking as I realized how stupid it sounded. But dreams always sounded stupid and incoherent as you tried to retell them to someone else.

"As she entered, she turned into you. We ended up in the hallway, right in the middle of the massacre. The bodies and the blood were just as I remembered it. Then you walked into the living room and I could see Nina on the floor as one of the victims. Then you vanished, and when I looked down onto the floor you had joined her." I swallowed down a mouthful of saliva. Just the thought of it made me hug her tighter against my body.

"It was just a dream", Rose soothed me before asking the key question. "Who is Nina?"

"Old girlfriend", I admitted. "We were a couple the last semester in high school."

Rose grinned at me. "A girlfriend, do my ears deceive me? Did _you_ have a girlfriend in high school?"

I narrowed my eyebrows. "Yes? Why do you sound so surprised?"

Rose's smile got wider and she shrugged her shoulders. "I just thought that you would all about training, dreaming about making a difference in this world and all."

"I was not that devoted to my future job in high school, I'm afraid", I chuckled. "And I didn't date that much. Nina was the only one who was somewhat serious."

"Did you use to give her private lessons too?" Rose asked amusingly, sliding her hands up my upper arms.

I laughed and shook my head. "We did not train together, she was a Moroi. She was fun, but she never entertained me with the battles that you constantly do."

Rose's smile widened more at my comment and pushed my head closer to hers to give me a deep kiss. She began to pull the edge of my shirt upwards, aiming to get it off me. I didn't know if the talk about previous women made her feel as if she needed to prove herself to me, or if she just had missed me.

"You're burning the food", I mumbled, my lips tightly pressed against hers. Rose turned around for a couple of seconds to turn the stove off and put the frying pan with the meatballs off the hot plate.

"No, I'm not", she said, slightly breathlessly, and pulled my face down for another kiss. I pressed my hips against hers, letting her feel my growing arousal. When she had tossed my shirt away she began to unbuckle the belt in my pants.

"Did you not want the food?" I asked with a smile.

Rose's lips gently bit my bottom lip and her hands grazed the naked skin on my stomach. "I prefer to eat when I'm hungry_."_

* * *

_Surprise, surpise! Despite him being extremely devoted to his cause, I figured that he might have dated at least a little in high school ;-)_

_I have written several chapters ahead, unfortunately, I'm starting to catch up! With school and all, I might not be able to upload every week after chapter 17 or so, but then I will do my best to get some things done on paper! Or... on a Word file... :)_

_Have a great weekend!  
_

_Love, Zeraphime_


	10. Chapter 10

**Ten **

_**Mirabel Szelsky**_

Heavy rain fell from the sky as the plane landed at the Court's airport, washing away the little snow that had covered the ground. Dark, heavy clouds covered the sky above the massive buildings that created the protected Court area. I had been here several times, mostly for a quick visit to my parents. Still every time, I was still blown away by its size and magnificence.

A familiar figure waited for me after the security check at the private airport, holding two umbrellas. His face lit up when he saw me and his arms immediately unfolded to capture me in a large hug.

"My little girl, you have grown so much since I last saw you!" He said and placed a polite kiss on my cheek. Since I last saw him, his hair had turned grey above the ears and he had a few more lines below his eyes and in the corner of his mouth.

"So have you, Dad", I teased. "How have you been?"

My father handed me one of the umbrellas and offered to take my luggage. "I have been well, and so has your mother. She has been talking a lot about you lately."

"Has she?" I mumbled.

Dad chuckled. "We have both missed both you and Leo a lot, which only makes us work more."

"You and Mom are far too ambitious", I commented. I tried to make it sound like a joke, though I meant every word of what I said. My parents, Princess Ariana Szelsky and Vincent Conta, were both bigwigs among the Moroi society. My mother even ran for Queen once, the same round where Queen Vasilisa won the crown, but didn't pass the third test. All Moroi children to important people came in second when it stood between them and work, so the academies came well in hand when they needed to get rid of us for a few years. At least that was what it felt like.

"She's actually thinking about stepping down a little from work, she has been working a lot lately", Dad said. "She's been thinking about travelling through Europe."

I raised my eyebrows. "Europe? Really?"

Dad chuckled and nodded. "Yes, she has realized that she wants to see Paris, Berlin, Rome and all those other large capitals."

"Well, that sounds great", I said honestly. "You two should really take that time together."

We entered through the thick wooden doors into the main building and I folded my wet umbrella. In this time in the afternoon on a Friday, the restaurants and shops in the Court's mall were crowded with people doing some pre-weekend shopping.

"Would you like some coffee, tea or something?" Dad asked and made a gesture towards an open-air café next to an electronics shop. It was a cute café, though it would have fitted better in or near a garden than inside of the mall. On top of the wooden fence that cornered the café's area had someone placed an espalier where a thick, green clinging vine climbed up and created a green and soothing roof above the café.

I nodded. "Yeah, sure."

I took two seats at a round table and Dad went inside to buy us something to eat and drink. I leaned my elbows against the surface of the table and looked out on the people passing. Everybody looked so fashionable, even if they seemed to be off work. Most of the women were dressed in black and straight skirts along with a trendy blouse or perhaps a nice little dress. I saw plenty of people in my own age, give or take a year or two. Many Moroi children seemed to have left their schools to spend some time with their parents during the break.

Dad returned from inside the café and put plates of apple pie and with vanilla sauce down on the table with a clink that snapped me out of my thoughts. A young Moroi waitress had followed him with three cups on a tray and wished us an enjoyable meal before she left.

"Your mom will be joining us in about 10 minutes", he announced and sunk down on his chair before placing his jacket over the back. _That explained the third cup. _

I nodded and grabbed the cup that I presumed contained tea. I had started to drink coffee during the past months, mostly to keep myself awake while studying to tests and in the morning after a night of drinking. However, my dad did not need to know that last thing.

"I assumed that you still drink your tea with milk?"

"Yeah, I do", I mumbled and took a sip from the hot beverage, immediately regretting that since it burned my tongue.

I couldn't help but to feel that I wanted to leave the café and head out in the mall on my own. Dad sipped carefully on his small cup of coffee, glancing down at his watch at least three times a minute. A pressured silence hung over the table that I wanted to escape from. I was doing one of the most casual things someone could so; having a coffee with one of my parents. Yet, the feeling that came over the table was similar to as if all the other chairs had been occupied and a stranger asked to sit by my table only to get a seat.

"How are you doing to school?" Dad asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Good", I replied. "I failed a test in the beginning of the semester but passed it the second time now just before spring break."

"Oh, good job", Dad nodded. "Are you still friends with Joanna?"

I nodded. "Yeah I am, we see each other almost every day."

Dad cleared his throat. "And are you… dating someone?"

I felt my cheeks heat up. Technically, I was, but I couldn't reveal that I was dating a Dhampir. Despite the modern times when it might be somewhat acceptable for a Moroi to date a Dhampir and vice versa, I had a distinct feeling that it wouldn't be appreciated by my parents. Besides, I wasn't even sure that Alexei thought that what we had was dating.

So I shook my head to avoid unnecessary questions. "No, I'm not."

"I see…" was Dad's only response and he continued to drink his coffee. I finally dared to drink my own beverage; the tea was rather bitter and far too strong, but I drank it anyway.

Luckily, we didn't need to engage in another awkward conversation before I noticed a familiar person approaching the café along with the clicking sound from high heels. As always, she was formally dressed in a black suit jacket and a knee long skirt. She was always dressed like that, no matter if she worked or not.

I gave my mother a smile. "Hi, Mom."

Ariana Szelsky lit up and captured me in a big hug. "My little girl, you've grown so much!"

She let go of me and held me at arm's length, scrutinizing my face with her mouth still pulled up in a wide smile. She gently stroked my cheek with one hand and leaned her head to the side.

"You look more and more like me when I was your age", she sighed. She had also aged since I last saw her, although I began to think that the slimness in her face was a result by poor blood supply and stress from a lot of work over a large period of time. Her otherwise brown hair had greyed a great deal; it was concealed by hair dye in a similar colour, but the true colours were revealed by the roots. The lines around her eyes and mouth were also more defined, though hers were more discreet than Dad's. She gave Dad a quick kiss before joining us at the table and grabbing the last cup of coffee.

"So, how have everything been? Was the trip good?" she asked.

"Yeah, though it was longer than I had -" I began, until the shrilling ringtone from someone's phone began to ring and interrupted me.

Mom flashed me an apologizing smile. "Oh, I'm sorry", she said and opened her purse, putting the phone to her ear. A pause in the conversation occurred as Mom rapidly scribbled something down on a notepad she found in her purse and hummed to the person in the other end of the line. I leaned back in my chair and folded my hands over my stomach. Over the short time that I had been sitting here, the amount of people in the mall had increased. I saw more Moroi with guardians following them with a few feet distance between them.

Then, a man emerged from the crowds with a training bag over his shoulder. He walked slowly, taking his time looking around into the windows of the shops he passed them. Not even a large crowd could conceal his presence from me. _Alexei. _

I immediately straightened my back, pulling my fingers through my hair to make sure that it wasn't standing in all directions and forced to pull my gaze away from it until he would come closer to the café.

To my giant luck, Mom's phone call lasted long enough for her to not pay much attention to me, and Dad was digging for something in his briefcase. As Alexei approached, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt that discreetly revealed his athletic build and triangular-shaped torso, I stretched my neck and kept my eyes fixed on him to try to catch his gaze.

He spotted me right on time, his face melting into a soft smile. I could immediately see that he was happy to see me, it was like he lit up from the inside, though he tried to look as if nothing special had caught his gaze. Looking up on the sign to the café, he glanced at me again and walked up the small pathway between the round tables before he vanished into the café. He returned a few minutes later with a coffee cup in his hands and took a seat at an empty table diagonally from ours, behind the backs of my parents.

I felt myself blush. How could I possibly engage in a conversation with my parents when I only wanted to rest my eyes on Alexei?

"We should head back home to make ourselves ready for dinner", Mom said and put her phone back in her purse.

I wanted to protest, but I didn't want to reveal why I wanted us to stay. So when we rose to leave, I spoke loud enough for Alexei to hear. "I feel like looking around a little, can I stay a while and look around in some shops?"

Mom and Dad glanced at each other. "Of course", mom sad, giving me a small smile. "It's not very far, you should find your way back without any trouble."

I turned my head to Alexei as we passed him, trying to convey my message through my expression. He nodded at me and I took it as a sign that he understood my message.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, I headed back to the café with rapid steps, trying to see all my check-points that would confirm to me that I was heading the right way. Finally, I spotted the walls and roof of the clinging vines and picked my pace up.

Alexei was still sitting at the table, an open book written by Stephen King in his hands and the coffee cup empty in front of him. I stopped on the other side of the fence.

"Alexei?" I called at him.

His head shot up and he smiled when he noticed me. _Oh that smile_... It made my stomach flutter and I had to swallow down a mouthful of saliva. He added a bookmark between the pages and packed it down in his bag .

"You didn't tell me that you were coming here", he said quietly as he came up to me. "Last minute plans?"

I nodded. "Didn't want to spend the holiday alone or with along with my parents. Then I remembered that I might stumble into you here."

"And so you did, lucky you", he said and looked down on me with a crooked smile.

"Lucky me indeed", I said. He placed a light hand on my back and led me past the café. I didn't know where we were heading, but I didn't care either. All I could think about was that I desperately wanted to lace my fingers between his.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To my room, I thought", he said, giving me a smile that revealed that he was lightly embarrassed. "I figured that we shouldn't start kissing in public."

I felt my pulse raise. Alexei and me, alone? In his room? With two hours to our disposal?

This week might be better than I anticipated.

* * *

Alexei's home for the week was a small guest room in the residential building. It was a little lager than my room at the academy and it had its own bathroom. He had unpacked, though he'd placed everything on top of the desk instead of in the drawers. It suddenly struck me that he was a tidy person; his clothes were neatly folded and his bed made without a wrinkle out of place.

"I half expected this place to be messy already", I confessed as he locked the door behind us. "Somehow you don't strike me as a tidy person."

"Inherited from my mother, I think", he smiled.

"My mother didn't give me such characteristics", I shrugged my shoulders.

Alexei grinned. "Yet she dressed up for a coffee with her daughter and husband."

"They're not married", I pointed out. "And she works at court, they are all expected to dress formally."

"Will you dress up like that when you work here?" He asked.

"What makes you think that I will work here?"

Alexei looked down. "My apologies, I just assumed that. I thought... since both your parents work here, it would be expected."

I raised an eyebrow. "Like it is for you to be a guardian?"

"No", he smiled a little bitterly. "Not exactly like that. I do not really have a choice."

I walked up to Alexei and placed my arms around his neck, trying to be sensual as I glanced up at him. "Would you like to see me in formal clothing? I can even wear a dress?"

The smile on his lips faded a little, turning smugger. He leaned down, rubbing his nose against my cheek. "No..." he mumbled. "I think that I would like to see you without any clothes at all."

His words made me flinch, though from surprise more than anything else. I wondered for a moment if I had heard him correctly, had he really said that he wanted to see me... _naked?_

Suddenly, his face dropped. "I am sorry!" He apologized. "I should not have said that."

"No, no, no!" I said rapidly. "I was just not prepared!"

I grabbed his hand and put it on my chest, just above my left breast, for him to feel my heart. It pounded hard against my ribcage and I knew that he could feel it beat hard against his palm. His hand slid upwards, cupping my neck as he lowered his lips to mine. I threw my arms around his neck again, clinging to him until there wasn't a part of my front that didn't press against his. His other hand slid up my shirt, resting against the middle of my back.

"I thought you said without clothes", I breathed, pulling away from our kiss for a tender second.

Something lit up in his eyes and he reached up to pull his own shirt off by grabbing it at the neck. Then he grabbed the lower edge of my shirt and pulled it over my head, tossing it away. "If you say so."

Pulling me in for another ground-rumbling kiss, his movements and hands grew braver. His kissed moved lower, gently sucking on the soft skin below my ear which left me gasping and his hands lowered to cup my bottom. I gently pushed him away, but only far enough to slide my hands down his stomach to unbutton his jeans.

"Are you sure about this?" Alexei asked and swallowed.

I glared at him. "Would I try to get your pants off if I wasn't sure?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Never hurts to ask."

***^* Warning - M-rated scene! *^***

**If you do not want to read an M-rated scene, skip the text until you reach the next line of bold letters!**

We were quick to take our clothes off, but as we actually ended up naked in bed we took this remarkably slower. Almost his entire weight was on my body, a comfortable weight that I encouraged by hugging his waist to get him even closer to me. I could feel his erection against the inside of my thigh, pulsating warm and hard. His lips explored my body; my neck, my throat, my chest and my stomach. His touches were gentle, touching my body as if it was a rare piece of fabric he had the chance to touch. His tongue, when he let it play with sensitive parts between my thighs, made me arch my back in pleasure. He usually made pleasurable chills run down my spine only when he touched me, I could barely even explain the pleasurable chills when he did _more_ things to me.

Alexei paused the kisses for a second and stroked my cheek with the tip of his nose. "Do you have any protection?"

I also paused. Firstly, I wanted to slap myself across the face a couple of times; the thought of protection hadn't even crossed my mind once since his presence and actions had taken up all of the space in my head. Then, I nodded. "Yeah I do."

Alexei didn't even try to hide a mixed expression of surprise and slight disappointment in his face as I left the bed and opened up my purse. "Do you always carry condoms in your bag?"

I felt my face redden. I suppose that it was a good thing that I carried condoms with me all the time, since moments like this (or similar to this, I had _never _been with a guy like this before) had happened once or twice before. However, it also sent a message to Alexei that I always carried condoms in my bag.

"Well… Vanessa keeps putting them there", I explained, not entirely lying. Vanessa was usually the ones handing out the things before a party or so, but the contribution was always welcome if the desire would occur. "And for tonight, I guess that's a good thing?"

If he had any other feelings about my stock of condoms, he didn't show it. Quietly, he took the condom from me and opened it. And after a few concentrated seconds, he had the rubber on.

He kissed his way up from my stomach to my lips again, gently rocking his hips from side to side to position himself with his tip just by my entrance. I had a burning fire of desire inside my stomach, I didn't want to wait a minute longer. Slowly he slid into me, stretching me out with slow and agonizing pleasure. He let out a moan, burying his face into the nape of my neck and began to rock his hips forwards. The burning in my stomach slowly began to fade out, spreading its warmth to my arms and legs, then out to my fingers and toes.

With every thrust, which became harder and faster for every minute that passed, I felt an unfamiliar feeling built up in my stomach. I had been with guys before, I wouldn't deny that, but no one of them had ever made me feel like _this. _

Alexei breathed something in Russian in my ear, but I didn't bother to ask what he said. The feeling kept climbing in my stomach, as if it was walking up a hill. His breathing began to grow shorter and more rapid, his hands gripped my hip and kept them still as he thrust faster. The climbing in my stomach began to reach its peak; I didn't know how I knew that, I just did. And as the climbing reached the top and tossed me over the edge like a rollercoaster rolling downwards from the top, my stomach clenched tightly.

Apparently, the feeling of my orgasm was intense for Alexei as well, for only a few seconds later, he made one final thrust and released himself inside of me with a satisfying moan. His body relaxed and he lay panting with his face still buried between my neck and shoulder for a few seconds.

As the room grew silent from any other sounds, I noticed that I was breathing just as fast. I didn't feel tried or anything, but I breathed as if I just had completed a 5-mile run. I nudged my shoulder to lift his face up from my neck and pressed a long kiss on his lips.

His hair was ruffled from the lovemaking and there was a shine to his dark brown eyes. I didn't know how it could be possible, but he was even more handsome while laying naked on top of me.

***^* End of M-scene *^* **

I could have stayed in his bed for hours, preferably with him tightly wrapped around me. I could have spent hour with my head against his hard chest, listening to the sound of his steady heartbeat.  
However, like all good things, our two hours ran out and I had to get dressed again to be in time for dinner with my parents. With Alexei stealing a kiss from me every other second, dressing was both fun and took time. I had to brush my hair with my fingers and erase any smudged make-up with some water.

"Can we do this again sometime?" I asked between kisses before I left his room.

Alexei smiled against my lips and nodded. "Of course we can."

* * *

_And there we have it! An introduction of Mirabel's parents and she finally climbed into bed with Alexei! :) _

_I won't update next weekend, I'm going on vacation for a few days and thought that I should keep those still faithful to this story on the leash for a week more ;) That will also give me some time finish the current chapter that I'm writing! :)_

_Have a good weekend and I wish you a spooky halloween in advance!  
_

_Love, Zeraphime_


	11. Chapter 11

**Eleven **

**_Mirabel Szelsky_**  
**_May_**

The weeks that passed after mine and Alexei's first time in his bedroom at Court was several more trips to heaven and back. We both knew, although we tried not to think about it too much, that this relationship wouldn't last after high school. It almost broke my heart to think about it; he would leave to be the guardian to the Prince and I would get myself a job.

However, the realization really made us value the nights that we got together. We always had the dreaded moment of when we would have to part ways when we slept together; and I mean slept together in both the literal way and the more delicate saying.

Vanessa still had no idea about our relationship, no one did as far as I knew, but her crush on Alexei seemed to have cooled off a little. Thank god for that, I was getting tired of hearing her talk about him. However, it had always given me a smug satisfaction when I heard her talk about her desires to kiss and touch him while I could really do that. Perhaps I should feel bad about that, but I didn't.

To top that off, I was now laying in sick with the worst stomach flu I had ever had. I could barely eat anything before my stomach decided that it didn't want to keep it. A high fever that threatened to boil me over and a headache painfully embraced my head had immobilized me in bed for the past two days. Joanna had been a darling a brought me several bottles of yoghurt and soup that I could eat and luckily keep.

"Are you thinking about getting better soon?" Joanna asked when she stopped by for the third time today. She kept her distance, not wanting to be contaminated, but still sat down at the end of my bed.

I glared at her and poured the yogurt into a clean glass. "As soon as possible, I hate feeling like this."

"You look really thin", Joanna commented with real concern. "I hope that you won't have to live on yoghurt and soup for much longer."

"When this passes, I will ask for permission to order a large pizza along with the delivery boy", I assured her, taking small sips from the glass as I returned to the bed. "That will be the meal of the year."

Joanna laughed. "You have earned that."

As I finished the glass, I felt my stomach turn over. I waited for less than a second before I felt the, now familiar, feeling of everything in my stomach on its way up. Joanna fled the bed as well when I rushed up from it and into the bathroom. I grabbed both the edges of the toilet seat and just waited for the convulsions in my belly to pass.

I let out a large groan and flushed the nastiness away as I headed over to the sink to rinse my mouth. "This is fucking horrible", I mumbled.

"I feel sorry for you", Joanna said, her back pressed against the door.

"I have only thrown up in the mornings so far", I noted. "Apparently now it turned into the afternoon as well."

"Morning sickness?" Joanna huffed. "Are you pregnant or something?"

I froze for a microsecond. _Pregnant…? _

I wanted to think that it was impossible. However… I rarely kept a schedule on my periods since they arrived when they arrived and I had never been in a relationship long enough for me to think about birth control. And… Alexei and I hadn't been very cautious with protection. _How incredibly foolish._

There was a possibility… there was a senseless, perplexing and completely unexpected possibility.

I recovered quickly and waved my hand at Joanna with a snort. "Who would have gotten me pregnant?"

Joanna shrugged her shoulders. "Didn't you sleep with Michael Zeklos before Christmas?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Perhaps, but then I'm sure that I would have noticed that a long time ago. I'm not pregnant."

Joanna seemed content with the explanation to that far-fetched possibility and wished me to get better before she left. However, I was left in my room with a head full of thoughts and a large lump inside my stomach.

* * *

**_Alexei Boyarov_**

A light knock on the door woke me only a few minutes after I had fallen asleep. The clock was only 10:30 am, but I was exhausted after tonight's training. I flung the covers aside and walked to the door, rubbing my eyes to get rid of some tiredness.

Mirabel stood on the other side, her arms plastered to her sides and her fists tightly clenched. She quietly slipped through the gap and closed the door behind her, leaning her back against it. I couldn't see much more than the blank expression on her face in the darkness of the room.

"What is it, has something happened?" I asked.

Mirabel looked up at me, opening her mouth to say something, but her bottom lip began to tremble. She put her hand over her mouth, trying to choke a sob. Alarm bells began to ring inside my head, when a girl cried it was never a good sign unless it was tears of joy. Also, I got bad vibes since she had snuck past the guards outside both her and my dorm to get here.

I placed my hands on her shoulders and bent down to look her in the eyes, but she turned her head away from me. "What is the matter?" I asked.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry", she sobbed, burying her face against my bare chest and sliding her arms around my waist. She continued to sob, I could feel lukewarm tears fall from her eyes and down onto my chest.

I didn't know what to do or what to say. _Should I say something? _I didn't have much experience with girls, especially not when they cried, and I felt myself hesitate in every move since it could be the wrong one.

Perhaps it was good to let her cry and explain in her own pace, so I wrapped my arms around her and leaned my cheek against the top of her head.

Almost ten minutes later, Mirabel had calmed down enough to speak without her breaking down. "I'm so sorry, Alexei."

I placed a kiss on her forehead. "What are you sorry for?"

"I think that I'm pregnant."

Her words hit me like a fist in the stomach, knocking the air out of my lungs. I wanted to believe that I head misheard her, but I knew that I hadn't missed a letter of what she just revealed.

I couldn't believe this. Not that I didn't believe that she was pregnant, I trusted her on that. But I couldn't believe that I was doing the exact same thing that I had promised myself that I would never do; make my parents' mistake.

Mirabel moved her head from my chest and dried the tears away from her cheeks and eyes. "Say something?"

I swallowed down a mouthful of saliva. "I-I do not know what to say…"

I pulled her with me to the bed and sat down on my rumpled covers while Mirabel slowly sunk down next to me.

"Just tell me what you are thinking about", she pleaded and dried her eyes once again with the edge of her shirt.

I took a deep breath. She was not going to like what I had to say, but I just crossed my fingers that she would appreciate the honesty. "I hadn't expected this to happen to me, I honestly didn't want this to happen to me. I have always been told that duty comes before anything else, which means that I would instinctively chose duty over family", I glanced over at Mirabel. Her eyes welled up with tears again, but she didn't interrupt me.

"I know what happened between my parents, they were in the exact same situation and my father chose duty over family. I grew up after that choice and I hoped that I would never have to choose between the same things, I didn't want to experience myself what happened with their relationship. It's not that I wouldn't like to become a father, not many guardians gets that opportunity, but I wouldn't be able to take the responsibilities that a father should take."

Mirabel waited for my pause before she interrupted. "I don't expect you to give up your career as a guardian, I know how much you want that and I would never make you choose between me and your job." She took a small break to look me in the eyes. They were red-cornered and a little swollen, but she didn't cry anymore.

"If… If I keep this baby I won't put you in an uncomfortable position. I will accept any help and support or responsibility that you feel like you can offer."

I felt a little bad for not feeling any happiness over the news of her pregnancy, but honestly; the news didn't promise a good outcome. If I could chose, I didn't want her to have a baby with me. Mirabel was from a Royal Moroi family and her baby would be a Dhampir, I was sure that it was going to raise several eyebrows and many unwanted questions.

I took her hands between mine. "I don't want to put you in trouble, Mirabel. I don't want you to walk the rest of your life with a child by your side that you had with a Dhampir in high school and mean words about your behind your back."

To my surprise, Mirabel's face turned into a soft smile. "What if I don't care about that? What if having a baby with you would make me really happy, despite the species of the baby?"

I returned her smile, but I wasn't sure that it reached my eyes. "I'm not sure that I would make a good father."

"Well…" she said and cleared her throat. "Now you have the opportunity to find out."

"I don't want to make my own father's mistake", I pointed out to her.

She kept a steady gaze at me. "Then don't, do the best that you can. Clearly, he didn't even try."

I felt deep in my heart that she was right. Despite my wishes of never wanting to choose between duty and family, that was a choice that I would have to make now. And Mirabel's logic made sense; if I didn't want to make my father's mistake I just had to do my best to do this differently. I knew that I wouldn't be able to live with Mirabel to raise our baby, but I could help out with financial support or perhaps even visit when/if I had some time off.

Perhaps it wasn't the best that a man could do, but it was better than nothing.

I leaned down and kissed Mirabel long on her lips, tasting the saltiness from her tears on them. She gently pushed me down on back onto the bed and snuggled close to me, one of her legs tangling with mine and her arms over my torso.

"We'll make this work…" I mumbled and kissed her forehead. She didn't reply, she just buried her nose against my throat after pulling up the covers over us. She didn't even seem to think about that she still wore her everyday clothes.

* * *

Almost an hour later, Mirabel was calmly sleeping while still wrapped around me. But I couldn't sleep, I felt too awake to sleep.

_I was going to be a father. _

Now when she shock had sunk in a little, it didn't feel as disastrous as it had before. I wasn't worried about me not being able to do it anymore. I would try to do the best I could to do everything for this baby. I was more worried about him/her and Mirabel than myself.

I knew that there was going to be talk about her after the baby was born. Perhaps people would think that she has dated some Moroi in secret and accidentally gotten pregnant, but the truth would come out when the baby was born and everyone could see that it was a Dhampir.

I didn't care what they said, but I was sure that everything wasn't going to be kind words and I didn't want to see how hurt Mirabel would look when she heard it. I never wanted to see her hurt or sad, especially not when I had been involved in causing it.

However, she was a strong and independent woman. In a way she was stronger than I would ever be. Physical strength was easy to build up and maintain in comparison to an inner strength and courage.

If she said that she could do this, I trusted her on that. If she said that she could have this baby and turn her ear away from the gossip, she could do that.

* * *

_There you go! Thank you all for your patience :) The whole baby-thingy miiiiight not be completely unexpected, but __illegitimate children from forbidden relationships are always interesting! _

_I'll update in a week again :)  
_

_Love, Zeraphime_


	12. Chapter 12

**Twelve **

_**Rose Hathaway-Belikova**_  
_**Graduation**_

Taking my seat on the cushioned benches on one of the many rows around the area made me think about my own guardian trial. It was a different experience to sit up here, ready to watch some new novices prove their worth, than it was to go through the agonizing wait in the barracks outside the stadium just waiting for my turn.

The field below the rows of benches, the center of the gladiator arena, was thinly equipped with a variation of different obstacles to be a challenge for the fighting of the other guardians while trying to use balance and coordination. It reminded me _a lot _of my own trial. They still used the maze and the nets. I give them points for creativity when it comes to various obstacles, though they hadn't changed them much over the past… _how long since I did my trials? _12 years ago. Sometimes it felt like no time at all, sometimes it felt like so much longer.

The benches rapidly filled with people, the Moroi took seats below the awnings that had been put up to shade them from the summer sun. I could immediately spot the opening between the area and the novice barracks where the nervous youths peeked their heads out to take a good look at the area where their future would be decided.

They didn't only do the trials to pass their final test and unite with the true guardians, how they performed today would also be a guideline for who their assignment would be.

I was here as a formality. The novice who had trained with me and Dimitri during spring break, Alexei, had done well during the last days when his nervousness had passed. His graduation was today and I had been asked to witness it. If he did well, I would officially offer him the job as the guardian to Lissa's and Christian's son Lucas.

* * *

One after one, the nervous novices entered the arena and faced a number of school-guardians portraying Strigoi. Some did good, using the obstacles to their advantage and protected their Moroi who came out of the attack with perhaps some more pumping adrenaline that usual. Some did worse, focusing too much on the "Strigoi" and forgot about their Moroi; some even got their Moroi "killed".

Finally, after almost two and a half hours, the Captain of the school's guardians called out the name of the person that I was here to witness.

"Alexei Boyarov!"

He strode out from the barracks with an expression on his face that mediated that he was ready to face an army of Strigoi if that would be his test. He had dressed casually, rather optimal for the trials, in a fitted t-shirt, training pants without any pockets and a belt where he kept a blunt-edged stake.

A dark-skinned, female guardian in her early 40's was assigned to him, chosen to be his frightened "Moroi" for today. Despite her sharp features that seemed to always make her look grumpy and with a countenance of an eagle, she managed to give the illusion that she was help- and defenseless, meek and scared. I remembering greeting her as I arrived to the stadium today and if I remembered her name correctly, her name was Yasmin.

Just as I had gotten a goal, to bring my "Moroi" safely across a bridge, his goal was to bring her safely through the wooden maze. It would certainly test his ability to deal with sudden threats.

As Yasmin took her place behind Alexei, he looked around along the outside walls before he entered the maze. From the grand stand, everyone could look down the maze and see how he managed. However, we could also see where the guardian-as-Strigoi was, which he couldn't.

Alexei picked up his stake, a blunt-edged one that novices borrowed during the trials; they wouldn't pierce the skin, but they could cause bruises blue enough for the guardians they attacked so that they could prove that they knew what they were doing.

He stumbled into the first guardian-as-Strigoi almost immediately, who waited behind a turn. Yasmin screamed, pressing herself against the wall and covered her eyes with her hands. Alexei reacted immediately, blocking the Strigoi's attack with his free arm, capturing it against the wall and slammed the stake in his chest. The Strigoi sunk down onto the floor and acted as dead until Alexei and Yasmin had vanished out of sight.

From up here, I wasn't sure if I saw that Yasmin was shaking with pretended fright, but she definitely looked reluctant to follow him any further. Apparently, the words he spoke seemed to calm her down, for she straightened her back a couple of seconds later and seemed to grow braver.  
Alexei gave little outward sign that he was nervous, he actually looked very calm and reassuring. His expression reminded me, once again, of Dimitri. He always acted calm outwards, even when there was a raging storm of adrenaline, fright and anger inside of him.

Alexei had almost reached the end of the maze before he encountered another guardian-as-Strigoi. He seemed to have relaxed a _little too much, _for when the Strigoi appeared, he wasn't fast enough. The Strigoi shoved him aside, aiming for Yasmin. He managed to grab a good hold of her short hair, she gave up a cry in pain, and began to drag her towards him to "kill" her. Alexei kicked one of the Strigoi's legs away, making him lose balance, and grabbed a strong hold around his throat. I would have expected the guardian to be able to shove Alexei aside, he was half a head higher and at least a hand broader across his shoulders. However, the novice kept him at bay and jammed the stake into his back, just above the heart with a swift and strong movement.

With no room for air, two more guardians-as-Strigoi appeared. One headed for Alexei and the other one for Yasmin. Alexei immediately went for the one that didn't attack him. Since the Strigoi had his back towards him and pretended to be too busy to get a grip on Yasmin, he wasn't prepared when Alexei knocked him to the ground and staked him. Yasmin sunk down onto the ground with another loud scream.  
As Alexei turned to the second Strigoi, he didn't turn in time. The guardian-as-Strigoi slammed his fist against his temple, making him stumble but he recovered quickly. He placed a quick kick against the lower part of the shin on the guardian-as-Strigoi, followed that up with a hard fist in the ribs and as he doubled over a little in pain, Alexei pressed him up against the wall as he shoved the stake against his chest. Had it been a real stake, I was sure that he would have impaled him to the wall.

I sat perplexed as I watched the young novice's trials. He moved as swiftly and as self-confident as any experienced guardian would. After seeing Dimitri fight so many times, I knew that a guardian could move practically as fast as a Strigoi. Alexei seemed a little less swift and fast, though his strength might be able to compensate that. I recognized his passion in his fighting movement, I had it as well. Dimitri had taught me to see the passion in what I did. Before, when I protected Lissa after we broke out from St. Vladimir's, I had only done what I thought was best. After all, I was going something that I felt passionate about; protecting my best friend.

But I got caught up on something. This wasn't the first (or neither the second nor the third for that matter) that I thought of Dimitri when I saw the novice Alexei or saw similarities between them. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something familiar about him, something similar to what I saw in Dimitri.

* * *

I didn't even bother to wait in the back as the novices who had passed the trials got their promise marks in the tattoo ceremony. Almost a whole class was going to sit for fifteen minutes each when they got their tattoos, it would take several hours.

Instead of waiting around, I headed over to the administration building and knocked loudly on the door. I didn't actually want to think about it and I admitted to myself that it was farfetched, but Dimitri _had _dated a Moroi in high school. They graduated over almost 19 years ago, about the same age as the novice Alexei was. Dimitri said that they hadn't talked since they graduated and I didn't think that he would lie about that. But she could have gotten… pregnant shortly before graduation and decided not to tell him.

_Dimitri might not even know that he has a son. _It was farfetched and perhaps not even true. But it was a possibility.

An irritated and clearly sleep-deprived guardian opened the door and glared down at me, at least until recognized me. His eyes widened in surprise and he blinked several times as if he wanted to reassure himself that he saw it correctly.

"Guardian Hathaway?" He asked.

I didn't know the guardian, he wasn't the one who had worked here when I went to school here. However, I was still not used to the fact that my reputation still preceded me.

So I nodded. "Yeah, I would like to see the file of one of your students."

The guardian narrowed his eyebrows. "That is classified, I can't just hand you the file. Why do you need the file?"

I bit my lip. I should have thought about this earlier. This was another fine example of Hathaway-do-first-think-later, though I was not as reckless as I used to be. "The graduation trails for the novices are over and they are getting their tattoo's now- -"

"I know", the guardian interrupted with a small sign. "I have been handling the administration on all the graduates."

That could explain the obvious look on lack of sleep in his face.

"Once of the nov- - new guardians is going to be offered the job as the guardian to Prince Lucas, I only need to peak through it to see if his high school records hide any unwanted information."

The guardian's face fell and he swallowed down a mouthful of saliva, looking as guilty as if he had kept information hidden during a murder investigation or something. Luckily, he bought my rapidly invented explanation. "Alright, you can look though it quickly."

He let me inside the office and closed the door behind me. A large and deep bookcase that fit several wooden boxes where I assumed the files of every student were organized in which year they went. His desk overflowed with papers and I raised my eyebrows at the fact that St. Vladimir's still didn't seem to use computers.

"What's the name of the student?" The guardian asked and pulled the box with a label that said "_seniors". _

"Alexei Boyarov."

He looked through the labels of all the students names and hauled up a very, very thin file. "This is all, otherwise he has been a very good student or they didn't send all the files from St. Basil's."

He handed me the file and began to pile the papers on the desk up to give me some space, humming low to himself. The file began with the mandatory student-profile. There was a recent picture of Alexei, his full name, his day of birth, his place of birth and a lot of other rather irrelevant information. The rows where his parents were listed only contained one name. No father was listed, the blank was filled with _unknown. _

As his mother, a somewhat familiar name was scribbled in with black ink. _Nina Boyarova. _

I pushed all the thoughts that popped up in my head as far back as I could. I couldn't face those feelings right now, I had to step outside. I rapidly went through the rest of the papers, most of them were completely in Russian and didn't give me any information at all, before I handed the file back to the guardian, thanked him and left the administration.

* * *

I took the fastest way outside, resting my back against the door as it closed behind me. The sun had risen about two hours ago, it was starting to get closer to night for the Moroi world. I swallowed, trying hard to push the tears that began to gather in my eyes away.

It was as I had feared and predicted. I was almost completely sure, unless this Nina had slept around in high school, that Alexei Boyarov was Dimitri's son. I had done the math on my way out; Alexei was born in November, meaning that he was conceived sometime in February. She could have hid her pregnancy the last time in school or perhaps not even have discovered it until she had graduated.

That would explain why Dimitri didn't know anything about it. For if he knew, he wouldn't hide it from me.

The information slowly began to sink into my head. Suddenly, life felt so unfair. I had never thought that I would ever want to have children in my life and I had been happy with that realization if I could only have Dimitri. He and Lissa were the only people that I needed in my life, I didn't need a baby.

But god… I wanted one. I didn't want to have a baby just for the sake of having a baby. I wanted _Dimitri's _baby. I wanted a son or a daughter with the smile of its father. Every time I looked at our child I wanted to see Dimitri's eyes in them.

If Dimitri would die…

The tears that had gathered in my eyes overflowed and began to run down my cheek.

If Dimitri would die before I was ready to let him go, I wanted to be reminded of him in our son or daughter. A smile, a laugh, the colour of his eyes, anything that could still live with me and keep the memory of him instead of just pictures and memories.

I sunk down along the wall and buried my face in my hands, allowing the tears to flow since I knew that no one was around. I would never give him, _us_,a baby. I didn't mind that Dimitri had a baby with another woman 18 years ago, what pained me was that I couldn't give him the same thing.

* * *

_A little emotional ending to that chapter, don't you say? _

_I don't really have much to say this week, exept that it makes me really glad that you are reading this far!_

_Love, Zeraphime_


	13. Chapter 13

**Thirteen **

_**Mirabel Szelsky**_  
_**August**_

Shortly after 7 am, I got off my shift at work. After grabbing my bag form behind the reception desk, I said a passing goodbye to Mrs. Miller who was returning a cart of books into their shelves.

After my graduation, I got a temporary job at the Court's library that I would keep until I had my baby. I had to put my plans of going to college on hold for a while, at least until he or she was old enough to start kindergarten. Alexei and I still saw each other, though more secretly now than in high school. We had made a schedule that allowed us to get at least 10 minutes of privacy a few times a week. He went to training when I left work and we met behind the Guardian Hall for some quick kissing before we had to go our separate ways. It pained me deeply that I couldn't express the love I felt for him openly, but I had known from the beginning that we could never do that after high school.

And when it came to the baby… Five months pregnant, with my skinny frame and a rapid stream of gossip, there was no one who didn't see that I was pregnant. My belly stretched out under my tight fitted shirts and I didn't do anything to hide it apart from wearing an occasional sweater now and then.

As expected, my parents had needed a large scotch and a bag to breathe in when I told them the news, but they had calmed down relatively quickly. They had asked about the father, but I didn't want to reveal it. I got the impression of their rational thinking of "I hope that he will support you financially" and "Have you two thought of shared custody?" that they simply assumed that the father was another Moroi.  
I hadn't objected, I didn't mind if they assumed that until the day of the delivery when the truth about my Dhampir baby would come out anyway.

* * *

My parents' house, where I currently lived until I could find a place of my own, was located in the far end of Court, about half an hour away to walk from the center of Court. They lived in a large villa with almost 2200 square feet of grass surrounding it, a villa with light blue walls and white window frames. Three floors high, the villa needed a small quantity of staff to maintain the proper standard for the Szelsky Princess and her partner's house.

I parked the car on the driveway, immediately noticing an additional car that I didn't recognize. I narrowed my eyebrows, I wasn't aware of that we were expecting guests.

I had barely stepped up on the patio before the front door opened and mom peeked her head out. I noticed right away that she had fixed herself far too sophisticatedly for an evening at home. She had applied an elegant and light make-up that fit her pale complexion and arranged her hair in a French braid.

"There you are!" she said with a relieved sigh. "We expected you home at six."

"I was working", I remarked and stepped inside. "Like I do every day."

Mom ignored my, rather snide, comment. "We have a guest! Go upstairs and put on the dress I put on your bed, it will be perfect for tonight."

I froze. "Why?" I asked skeptically. "Who is here?"

Mom put her arm around my shoulders and began to lead me up the stairs where I had my room. "William Ozera, and he is here to see you."

I began to notice where this conversation was going. "I'm not ready to date, mom. No one will want to date me with this belly."

"We are only having him over for dinner, Mirabel. You don't need to date anyone yet", she said shortly and practically pushed me into my room. It was the same room that I had lived in since I left for St. Vladimir's in the first place, though it had gone through some remodeling several times when I returned here over the summers. The walls were no longer pink, now three of them where white while the fourth had a coffee colored tapestry.

On the bed laid a cream colored dress; long sleeves, fitted waist and a decent neckline. As I put it on, I saw that it reached me mid-thigh and stretched out nicely over my belly. It suited me well, though I didn't see the dress as a kind gesture.

I knew that my parents strongly disapproved of my pregnancy, even though they reluctantly accepted the situation. My mother was the Princess of the Szelsky family and even though she hadn't married, she had made a good match for herself with another Royal Moroi. As her daughter, I needed to fulfill a certain standard as well.  
I knew that they had invited William Ozera over to introduce him to me, a clear message that I needed to fix my situation as soon as possible. If I started to date him, _perhaps they even expected me to marry him_, it would tell everyone that I wasn't undesirable despite my slip in high school.

They wanted me to look as good as possible, desirable, as if this William Ozera could "restore my honour" from the fooling teenage mother to a modest woman.

I brushed my hair through with a few strokes of my brush and checked my face in the mirror too see if my make-up was still looking good before I headed downstairs. They were all waiting in the living room; Mom, Dad and William Ozera.

I had never met William Ozera before, but I knew of him as the second or third cousin to King Christian Ozera. Like the rest of the Ozera family's traits, he had short, black hair and light blue eyes. He had a sharp jaw, angular cheekbones and curvy lips. He wasn't unattractive, but he was nothing compared to Alexei.

He smiled politely at me and held out his hand to greet me. "I'm William Ozera, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Mirabel Szelsky, it's nice to meet you as well", I said and shook his hand. "Sorry for keeping you waiting."

He waved his hand. "No worries, I have been well cared for."

I saw my mother's face turn into the definition of delight and she clapped her hands together. "Now when we are all gathered we should sit down for dinner", she smiled and made a gesture towards the opening into the dining room.

She let William and Dad enter the room first and when I passed her she slowed me down by placing her arm around my shoulders and kissing me lightly on the cheek. "You look beautiful, Mirabel."

"Thanks", I said. "But I didn't put much effort into it."

Mom sighed behind me. "You don't need to sound so malicious, we are only trying to help you."

I spun around. "Help me? By forcing someone's company upon me hoping that we will fall in love and get married?"

"We don't want you two to marry", Mom said, but her so carefully make-upped cheeks blushed a little pinker by the lie. "But William is a good man, he's not much older than you and practically single."

I raised an eyebrow. "Practically?"

Mom sighed. "He's dating a Dhampir, but he will eventually set her aside and marry someone more in his league."

"So you are saying that this would be an opportunity for both of us to do the respectable thing?"

Mom bit lightly into her bottom lip. I could almost feel that she wanted to say no to that question, but she knew that she couldn't lie about it. Carefully, she cupped my cheeks and placed a light kiss on each of them.

"I only want what is best for you, I'm not forcing you to marry anyone that you don't want to. I know that you are not willing to date, especially not now", she smiled a little at me and looked down on my belly. "But in the future you will probably want to meet someone new and… It doesn't hurt to make yourself acquainted with some people."

I swallowed. I didn't want to date anyone but Alexei, even if I knew that that door was closed. It didn't matter that everyone else expected me to marry someone in the future, I didn't think that I could love anyone as much as I loved him.

I gave up a sign in defeat. "Alright, I'll behave tonight."

Mom smiled at me. "Thank you."

* * *

Dinner wasn't actually that bad. Our cook had made a delicious roasted chicken with mushrooms, carrots and parsnip along with spicy potatoes cut into pennies and a glass of red wine (or sparkled water for my part). William Ozera was actually a very nice and social guy; he talked a lot about his hobbies and interests, apparently he enjoyed playing the guitar when he had the time, and about his work as a paralegal. My parents were obviously very impressed withhis education and occupation; though they didn't show it more than just politely.

"And what about the girl you are dating, tell us a little more about her", Mom said and took a small sip from her glass of wine. I wanted to leave the table, this was humiliating both to me and William.

William's cheeks got a rosy tone to them. "Her name's Julia, she works at a baker in one of the Court's café's."

"For how long have you two been dating?"

"Almost two years", William said, straightening his back in his chair. I could spot the signs in his changed posture; he stiffened, his nose lifting a little in the air and his eyebrows narrowed just the slightest. He turned defensive.

My mother also seemed to sense that she was heading into sensitive ground. She took another sip from her wine and rose from the table. "I think I shall go and see how the dessert is doing", she excused herself.

"Mirabel?" William said as we all rose from the table. "Will you join me on the terrace for some fresh air?"

Taken by surprise, I shot a quick glance at my mother who discreetly nodded. Not because I wanted to please her, but I could really need a break from the pretend just-a-guy-over-for-a-casual-dinner.

"Of course", I said, placing the napkin that I had had in my lap onto the table. I followed William out from the dining room, into the living room and out on the backside terrace. Several lanterns had been lit as the sun began to set below the tree tops, coloring the sky in an amazing pallet from blue to pink to end in a deep orange.

William closed the terrace door behind us. "Can I ask an honest question?" he asked, thankfully not starting any polite small talk. I nodded.

William sighed, giving me a small and slightly embarrassed smile. "Am I here because you wanted to invite me or because your parents want to start something between us?"

"The latter", I remarked quickly. "I didn't even know that you were coming, I sensed a conspiracy as soon as I stepped inside the house. And I'm sorry for the questions about your girlfriend, I'm sure that they didn't mean to make it so obvious."

William chuckled. "It's okay, I'm used to questions about her." He nodded towards my stomach. "Congratulations on the baby."

"Thanks", I said. "That's the most sincere congratulations that I have gotten so far, I think."

William smiled at me and began to drum his fingers against the edge of the wooden fence that surrounded the terrace.

"Would you want to have children with Julia?" I asked, turning my head towards him.

I saw his Adam's apple jump as he swallowed. "That would be the dream, I would love for us to start a family. But that wouldn't help to make other people accept our relationship. They are already expecting us to leave each other soon and move on."

"Will you?"

William looked at me with an amused smile. "Are you saying that I have a choice?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I would like to think that you have. You should be allowed to live with the one you love, despite that everyone else finds that unacceptable. But... We tend to choose what is easier for us in the long run."

"You sound as if you speak out of experience."

"Perhaps", I said, shrugging my shoulders. "If I had been braver I would have chosen the harder alternative.

"Like staying with the father to your baby?"

Automatically, my hand flew up to rest on top of the bulge where mine and Alexei's baby rested. "It would be impossible", I said vaguely. I didn't want to reveal anything about Alexei to anyone, especially not to someone that I didn't know. However, I also had a feeling that William would be one of few people who would understand.

"Like my future with Julia?"

"Yeah… Something like that..." I mumbled, turning my head away to look out over the grassland the stretched out before us until it reached a wall of trees. Silence fell between us. I got an uneasy feeling in my stomach as I got the feeling that William _knew_ about my complicated situation.

William leaned his palms against the wooden fence. "Perhaps we should start dating. People would stop thinking of you as a single teenage mother and think of me as the guy who finally did the right thing."

I snorted. "How would that work out? We don't even know each other."

He laughed. "That's sort of the point of dating."

"And then what?" I asked. "When we have done what everyone expects of us and dated for a while. What if they start to ask if we are going to marry? Shall we surrender to that too?"

William hesitated, turning his head from me to look out over the grass as I had done a few minutes earlier. "We could marry. We could sign some papers and get a house together, move away where no one will bother us. I could manage to get Julia to the house and perhaps you could… have your guy nearby."

I raised my eyebrows. "Marrying for show, really?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Why not? It would practically solve everything. People would stop talking and we could give our love to the ones we want."

I had to bite my bottom lip to prevent saying something that I would regret. I didn't like the idea, I didn't want to marry anyone. It would break my heart to commit myself into something like that. It would feel as if I cheated on Alexei, but it would be with Alexei that I cheated on my husband.

But… I had to admit, it would solve most of my problems. My parents, and probably everyone else as well, would be satisfied with my choice of partner and he wouldn't care that I loved Alexei, just as I wouldn't care that he loved Julia. To all outsiders, we would appear to have done the appropriate thing when we instead dedicated our hearts to those they really belonged to.

"I'll think about that", I replied. "But keep in mind that I will probably say no."

William smiled at me, a sincere and kind smile. "I'm not happy about the thought either, no offense."

I felt my lips pull up in a smile as well. "None taken."

* * *

_The excitment rises! Poor Alexei, what will he think about this? _

_It's actually hard to upload just once a week, I want you friendly and nice people who's still reading this to read the rest! Except that I haven't finished the story and I won't be able to write that fast :)  
_

_Have a nice weekend!_

_Zeraphime_


	14. Chapter 14

**Fourteen **

_**Alexei Boyarov**_

After almost two hours of combat training with another off-duty guardian, I left the Guardian Hall with my bag over my shoulder and headed back towards the main building. Mirabel hadn't left work yet, she wouldn't go off until 7 am, so I would try to get her into some deserted part of the library for some alone time with her.

I had seen her only two days ago, but it felt like two weeks ago. I missed to hold her in my arms and to smell the familiar and comforting scent of her skin and the wear trace of her perfume that seemed to follow her even when she didn't wear it.

I entered the library, stretching my neck and kept my eyes alert to see if I could spot Mirabel. Like everything else at court, the library was magnificently built in dark wood. It held over three million books, half of it significant collections of manuscripts, maps and printed music from the early parts of the Moroi history. The Long Hall, which was the largest part of the library, consisted of two floors. A long corridor stretched between the rows of shelves, after every fifth shelf a small spiral stair appeared that lead to the second floor's shelves. The second floor didn't have any floor above the corridor of the Long Hall, making the roof of the library stretch high up above the visitors.

I felt tiny as I walked through the corridor and admired the wooden ornaments on the shelves and fences that towered up around me, reaching all the way up to the roof. Every step I took seemed to echo between the heavy wooden shelves as I approached the reception desk where recognized Mirabel's brown curls that fell down her back. She stood with her back towards me, keeping her face on the computer screen while her hand moved the mouse over the mouse-pad.

"Excuse me", I asked and leaned my palms against the surface of the desk. "I'm looking for a book in a secluded part of the library."

She turned around slowly, stoking a lock of her hair behind her ears and gave me small smile. "I know exactly where to find that book", something sparkled in her eyes as she spoke and she made a gesture with her hand to follow her.

She escorted me into the back of the library, past the deserted shelves and the empty tables, and up a spiral stair to the second floor. She checked inside the empty spaces between the shelves for any hidden visitors while she continued to walk towards the back of the library. There didn't seem to be a single visitor in the library at the moment.

She made a quick turn to the left, entering a small hollow between a full bookshelf and the furthest wall. The hollow was secluded in darkness and in the furthest end of the library, no one would find us here even if they were looking for us.

I dropped my bag on the floor and pulled Mirabel into my arms, pressing my lips tightly against hers. With a force I hadn't expected, she threw her arms around my neck and backed until her back hit the wall.  
It felt as if I had been on a diet for several weeks and finally was allowed to take a piece of that cake that I had longed for. I took my time savoring every kiss and touched her body with utter care. I felt the emptiness in my stomach that had expanded for every day that passed where I couldn't kiss here finally beginning to grow smaller, the hunger for her that I constantly felt began to fill.

I never wanted to let her leave my arms.

However, I did notice some hesitation in her posture. There was a stiffness to her that indicated that she wasn't fully dedicating to the moment. There was something bothering her mind.

I pulled my head away. "What is it?"

Mirabel's tight grip around my neck loosened and her hands slid down to rest on my chest. She swallowed, keeping her gaze steady on the mark printed onto my t-shirt. "There is something that I think you should know…"

"What is it?" I asked.

"I…" she began but trailed off when her eyes flooded with tears. I felt a pang in my chest, I hated when she cried. She was unhappy when she cried, and I hated to see her unhappy. I moved my hands from her hips up to the middle of her back and pulled her closer to me as she leaned her head against my chest.

"My parents invited William Ozera over for dinner a couple of days ago", she sobbed when the worst of the tears had passed. "They are trying to set us up together."

"Are they trying to marry you off?" I asked.

Mirabel gave up a light laugh and dried the tears away from her cheeks. "No not exactly, they are just hoping that I will come to my senses and think about my future."

She moved out a little from my embrace, though stayed close enough for me to keep her arms around her. She locked her arms around my waist. "He has dated a Dhampir for the past two years, but everyone is expecting him to set her aside soon and marry another Moroi."

I listened carefully, trying to think ahead where this conversation was going. The thoughts on Moroi-Dhampir relationships were rather clear; a Moroi could keep a Dhampir as a temporary company or perhaps a mistress, but they never engaged in a prolonged relationship. Mine and Mirabel's relationship would have been accepted for a little while, but then everyone would expect us to break up.

Mirabel took a deep breath before she continued. "And he suggested that we get a house together, so that no one will interfere with our private lives again."

I raised my eyebrows. "You want to move in with him?"

Frantically, she shook her head. "No! I want to be with you! But if William and I pretend to have a relationship, no one with bother us anymore!"

"What about the marrying then? When everyone starts to ask when you two will marry, will you follow through with that too?" I snapped. I didn't matter that she and William had no feelings for each other and that everything would be for show; I didn't want to fool around with another man's wife. She was carrying my baby, she and the little girl or boy owned every inch of my heart, yet some Ozera guy would get all the credit as her husband.

Mirabel bit her bottom lip and a few silent tears rolled down from her eyes again. She couldn't quite keep her voice steady and her words were faint. "It would only be on paper…"

I dropped my hands from her back and backed away a step. "How did you think that I would feel about this?" I said, focusing hard on keeping my voice down in the acoustically brilliant library. "I am forced to stand down when everything I want to do is to love you without anyone interfering! Instead, you will commit to someone else!"

She stepped forwards, cupping my face with strong but soft hands and pulled me down for a kiss, more intense than any kiss she had ever given me. I could sense the emotions that she tried to put into that kiss; _love, despair, resentment. _

"If I could marry you, I would", she whispered. "Centuries of opinions and traditions stand between us, and I would go against every single one of them if it had been in my power! I would run away with you and live in a secluded village somewhere in Europe or anywhere else in the world! But…"

"But…?" I helped, swallowing down a lump that began to gather in my throat.

Mirabel's tear-filled eyes look up at me. "But that would mean to pull you away from your job as a guardian, from what you have trained hard your entire life to be. I would force you into hiding and to throw away your life's work."

I wanted to object, to say that it was okay and that I didn't mind. But I couldn't, she was right. Even if I wouldn't have hesitated in taking the chance to live the rest of my life with her, I would leave all the opportunities to do my duties; to serve and protect the Moroi. That had been my goal for so long; to train and develop so that I could perform that duty with pride. Even if a life with Mirabel was so tempting, that wasn't something that I could set aside so easily.

"I don't want you to marry him, I don't want to share you with anyone", I said.

"When it comes to my heart, the only one you will have to share that with is him or her", she said and stoke the roundness of her growing belly. I moved my own hands from her back to her stomach, stroking the surprisingly hard bump. Then, beneath everything that separated us from the little baby, I felt a light movement or as if he/she was stroking against the place where I held one of my hands.

My head shot up. "Did you feel that?"

Mirabel nodded, a wide smile spreading on her lips. "Yeah, of course I did!"

I pulled her in for another kiss, suddenly feeling the need to keep her close to my body again. "Alright then, I surrender. If this William Ozera is offering a solution so that we can be together, I should be grateful."

She smiled lightly. "There will only be you, don't forget that. And remember, William also has a Dhampir that he doesn't want to live without, this solution is as much for him as it is for us."

I nodded. I still wasn't completely fond of the idea, I had a feeling that it would still feel like cheating or if I was some lover that she tried to keep hidden. But I could live with that, as long as I could be with her.

With her and our baby.

* * *

_A slightly short chapter, but I hope that you like it! I'll update like normal next week :)  
_

_Love, Zeraphime  
_


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